


Crushed

by Rhyfeddol



Series: Crushed [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-11
Updated: 2016-08-11
Packaged: 2018-08-08 00:35:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 23,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7736206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rhyfeddol/pseuds/Rhyfeddol
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yang discovers she has feelings for Blake, but doubts Blake will ever feel the same way. But when trying times ensue for Team RWBY and all of Remnant, will new emotions be discovered?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a re-upload of my first-ever fic, originally posted on fanfiction.net. It is literally just copied and pasted from the original document, written two years ago, so excuse any lack of quality compared to my more recent work on this site.

**Yang**

3:55 on a Friday. I've always hated this time of the week, because it's the point where you know you only have to wait five more minutes for freedom, but those five minutes feel almost as long as the week itself. Ugh. Professor Port is rambling on and on and on about his "heroic exploits" from his "glory days". Honestly, I thought this class was Grimm Studies, not "The Personal and Probably Exaggerated History of an Old Moustached Huntsman". I hope there isn't a test, because I'm pretty sure Weiss is the only person who can stay awake in this class and there's no way she'll lend me her notes. I asked her once, and she told me "no. Pay attention in class, Xiao Long". My reply? "Weiss so serious?". I got a really cold stare. Like, colder than the normal ones our resident Ice Queen is notorious for. She wonders why people call her that. Whatever. She wants to be cold and arrogant so no one likes her, that's her problem, not mine. As long as it doesn't rub off on Ruby, who clings to Weiss like a puppy to its owner. Sometimes I wonder if our fearless leader has a crush... No, probably not. There's no way anyone could fall for Weiss, right? Well, except for Jaune, but he's an idiot. How he doesn't notice Pyrrha's obvious feelings for him is beyond me.

A harsh ringing startles me out of my thoughts. _There's the bell. Finally, I'm free._ Across the room, Jaune looks defeated. He probably got rejected by Weiss. Again. Not my problem. Instead of occupying my mind with the troubles of an adolescent boy on another team, I head back to Team RWBY's dorm. Upon arrival, I really want to collapse on my bed and lie there for a while, but I'm on the top bunk. Blake's bed looks much more inviting than climbing right now, so I collapse on there. Hopefully she won't mind. I would never find out, however, as Ruby and the Ice Queen choose that moment to enter, and Ruby apparently has a plan for a wholesome team activity.

"Yang! Get up!" She commands, then frowns. "Why are you on Blake's bed?"

"Didn't wanna climb. Blake's bed looked comfortable," I reply.

"Well, we're going downtown. We just have to find Blake," Ruby tells me. I can tell I have no choice in the matter. Whatever. My secret alcohol stash has run out anyway.

"Library," states Weiss.

Ruby looks at her, confused.

"That's probably where Blake is," Weiss explains. Ruby nods, then exclaims "to the library!" before bolting in that direction.

How she can have that much energy after Port's class, I'll never understand. Weiss and I follow the rose-coloured streak to the library, where we find Ruby looking pleased, and Blake, looking slightly miffed, probably because she had been reading and Ruby disturbed her. One of the first things we learned as a team was that you never disturb Blake when she's reading, unless you want a tongue lashing that would impress Weiss. Unless she was the one receiving it, in which case it would make her angry. Ruby never quite seemed to get that though, but Blake was used to being disturbed by her at this point, so she didn't lash out. That disappoints me a little, because Blake is hot when she's mad. _Wait, what? Where did that thought come from? Blake's just... A friend. I don't LIKE her, do I?_ Oh god. I'm confused now. Confusion is for school time, when I'm thinking about things that are SUPPOSED to be confusing. Blake is not one of those things. She's my partner, and she's probably closer to me than anyone else on the team, but nothing more than that, surely. I need to clear my head, by which I mean I need alcohol to help me forget this train of thought.

"Yang? We're going now," says Blake, bringing me back to reality.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, sorry. Just distracted by my thoughts," I reply, trying to play it cool. Blake gives me a questioning look, but says nothing. Ruby's already left, along with Weiss, who was presumably dragged along.

On the airship ride to Vale, I catch myself staring at Blake. Well, I say staring. Others would probably say I was checking her out. She's definitely very attractive. Great body. _Why are you thinking like this, Yang? She's your partner. You're supposed to be like sisters. You wouldn't look at Ruby that way, would you?_ That's a good point, brain. Shit. I'm now talking to my brain as if it's a different person who happens to live inside my head. It also appears to be replying, but that may just be the small part of me that hasn't gone crazy. I shake my head to clear it.

"Yang? Is something wrong? You keep zoning out." Blake says from beside me.

I sigh. "Have you ever had a crush on someone you know you probably shouldn't, but you can't help it?" I ask her.

A small smile tugs at the corners of her mouth. "Is that what's bugging you? You're worried about a CRUSH? You're training for a profession where dying is an occupational hazard, and liking someone is what you're most worried about?!" Blake answers, before bursting into laughter. I don't think I've ever seen her show that much emotion, except when we found out she's a Faunus. She still wears the bow, but I think she's even prettier without it. Not that I'd ever say that to her, of course.

"Shut up. It's not funny," I say, in slight annoyance, but I did find my situation kinda funny when I looked at it how Blake put it. It wouldn't be so funny if she knew who I was referring to. _Well, that's it. I guess I really DO like her. I don't know what to do about it though._

"Sorry," the Faunus tells me, apparently thinking she'd hurt my feelings.

"What? No, it's fine. You're right, actually. It is kinda funny," I assure her. She looks relieved. At that moment, the airship lands. All of Team RWBY disembark, and I realise Ruby and Weiss had been with us. I imagine Weiss promised Ruby cookies to make her be quiet if I hadn't noticed them. I had been preoccupied though.

"Okay, Ruby, why are we here?" The Ice Queen asks impatiently.

"We're going shopping! I'm buying accessories for Crescent Rose, and you guys can probably find something you need," the red-clad girl tells us excitedly. "Meet back here at 6:30 so we can be back to Beacon before 7 and not get in trouble."

 _Great. I'll be able to find a liquor store, and hopefully something will distract the clerk enough to make him not realise I'm not 21. Well, a pair of somethings._ The "girls" get in the way sometimes, but they're great for exploiting members of the male species. "Okay, see you guys later," I say, before heading off. I see Weiss follow Ruby, probably to make sure she doesn't go overboard. Knowing Blake, she'll probably find a bookstore. While I want to spend more time with her, I feel like I need to be alone right now. I wander in the general direction of a reputable liquor store that I know is staffed by horny older men, very easy to distract without being too revealing. Taking a shortcut through an alley, I find myself surrounded by a group of guys, probably in their mid-twenties, dressed like stereotypical muggers. I sigh, and try to walk past.

"Eh, where you going, Blondie?" One of them asks, grabbing my arm. He pulls me back to the middle of their group, and one of the others pulls a knife from his jacket and asks for my money and valuables. His mistake.

I smile, and, not even bothering to activate Ember Celica, punch him in the face faster than he can react. There's a sickening crunch, and blood pours from his nose, which I know I've just broken. Based on the look on the guy's face, he hasn't quite registered it.

"The fuck?" Says a mugger on my left, before taking a swing. I easily duck, grab his arm and twist. He gives a cry of pain, which I silence with a punch to the throat. Two down. I turn around, and see the remaining three of them looking at me warily. They're not sure whether to attack or run, but after a threatening look from me, they turn tail. Probably better for their health. I smirk, and head on my way.

I arrive at my destination, and, after pulling the front of my shirt down slightly, enter the store. The old man at the cash register doesn't even look up. Some careful consideration later (hey, a girl's gotta be careful choosing her alcohol when she hasn't got much money for it), I select some vodka and approach the cash. The cashier doesn't even ask for ID, which I don't complain about. Makes things easier. Leaving the store with my purchase, I realise I haven't eaten since lunch, and use my remaining Lien to buy a hot dog. At this point, I'm faced with a decision. I save the vodka for later, and get a scolding from Weiss when I'm inevitably unable to hide it in time, or I drink it now, arrive at the airship terminal drunk, and get a scolding from Weiss, which I'll be too wasted to care about. Getting drunk seems like a great plan, so I open my bottle and take a hearty swig. The vodka burns my throat, but I don't care. I decide to head back, seeing as it's 6:15, and finish my drink on the way. Ruby and Weiss are already at the terminal when I arrive, and my alcohol-muddled brain tries to come up with an excuse for why I'm unstable on my feet.

"Yang Xiao Long! Are you drunk!?" Demands Weiss when she sees how wobbly I am.

"Uhhh, no? There was a nitrous oxide leak, and I'm still woozy," I tell her. _Nice one, Yang_ , I tell myself, feeling pretty proud of myself for that excuse.

"Bullshit. Sometimes I'm ashamed to be on the same team as you," Weiss says coldly.

"Weiss! Don't swear in front of kids!" I drunkenly exclaim, gesturing in Ruby's general direction.

She seems about to reply, when Blake shows up, probably saving my life. Instead of saying anything, Weiss glares at me and boards the airship in a huff. Blake looks suspicious, but Ruby comes to my aid and tells the cat girl not to worry. The three of us board together, and return to Beacon.

In the dorm, Weiss immediately goes to bed, even though it's not even 8. Blake, Ruby and I have a game of poker, which goes about as well as you'd expect when one player is an innocent fifteen-year-old, one is wasted and there are no chips. After a couple of hours, Ruby goes to bed, and Blake and I decide to do the same. I attempt to climb to my bunk, but in a drunken stupor I fall. Blake tells me to sleep on her bed, and is about to climb to mine when I say "but Blaaaaaake. I'm cooooold. Keep me warm?" She looks flustered, but reluctantly crawls under her covers with me. I immediately wrap my arms around her and fall asleep in seconds.


	2. Chapter 2

**Blake**

_Run. I must keep running, lest the darkness claims me. Up ahead, I see the R, W and Y of Team RWBY, calling my name anxiously. Behind me, nothing. An endless black cloud, consuming everything. As a tendril of darkness snakes its way towards me, I know I'm not gonna escape. Nonetheless, I keep running, until I can no longer move. I try to fight the suffocating blackness, but I'm stuck firmly in its grasp. A scream escapes my lips, taking the last of my breath with it. The only thing I see now is Yang, looking more heartbroken than anyone I've ever seen…_

I wake with a start, relieved that it was just a nightmare, nothing more. My relief is short-lived, however, as I realize that I'm still unable to breathe. I have a brief moment of panic, then remember Yang's in bed with me, and she's just bear-hugging me. _Why did I agree to this?_ I ask myself. I try to gently shift Yang's arms out of my way so I can get up, but I hear "noooooo", and she holds me tighter. The best I can do is move her arms in such a way that I can still breathe, and prepare for a long morning waiting for the brute to wake up. Honestly though, there are worse places to be stuck. Ruby and Weiss already left, which seems strange. I normally wake first. Looking at the clock tells me it's 11:30, and I wonder why I slept that long. _You didn't want to leave her embrace,_ a small voice in the back of my mind tells me, which confuses me. She's just my partner, I don't have any romantic feelings for her. Do I? I've read a lot of romance novels in which the main character finds themselves in a similar situation, but my wealth of literary knowledge doesn't help me at all. I want to head to the library and take shelter from my confusion by escaping into another world, but the blonde behind me doesn't show any signs of waking soon. Might as well enjoy it while it lasts.

**Yang**

The first thing I'm aware of when I wake up is that I have a splitting headache. _Thanks, alcohol._ The second thing I'm aware of is that I can't see. I blink a few times, then vaguely remember that Blake slept with me last night. _No, brain, not like that!_ Logically, then, my vision must be obscured by the Faunus' jet-black hair. Lifting my head, I discover that this is indeed the case.

"Morning, Blake. Have a good cat-nap?" I ask her.

She attempts to turn and glare at me for the pun, and I realize she can't because I'm still holding her tightly. I let her go, and she tells me not to make cat jokes about her, which she's done a hundred times. I try to stop, I really do, but I can't help myself.

"Sorry. Been awake long?"

"Since around 11:30," she tells me, glaring. A quick glance at the clock alerts me to the fact that I slept until 12:30. Good thing it's Saturday.

"You should have woken me. I wouldn't have minded," I say, to which she replies that she wanted to let me sleep off most of the hangover. I noted a slight blush when she said that, leading me to believe that that was only part of the reason. _No. No, there's no way she likes you. You imagined the blush,_ the rational part of my mind tells me. _Shut up, rationality. I can hope._ I think I'm going crazy. That was the second time in two days I'd had a conversation with my brain. Meanwhile, Blake tells me she's going for a shower and then getting dressed. Part of me wants to join her, but part of me thinks that would be wildly inappropriate. Instead, I focus on thinking of a way to cure this damn hangover. Punching stuff usually helps me feel better no matter what's wrong, so I get my training gear on while Blake's in the bathroom and head to the training room.

On arrival, I wish I hadn't come, as Team CRDL were already there, acting like they owned the place. Cardin glares at me. I guess he still hasn't gotten over the time I punched him in the dick at lunch for picking on Velvet Scarlatina. I ignore them, and head to the punching bags. I really didn't want to deal with them and a hangover at the same time. Fate apparently has other ideas, which I learn when the King of the Pricks and his loyal subjects approach me. I note the malice in their eyes, and wish I'd brought Ember Celica. All four members of Team CRDL are armed, and my gauntlets would be great to have if things get ugly.

"Yang Xiao Long. Alone and unarmed. I never did get you back for that incident in the cafeteria," Cardin says menacingly. "This seems like a prime opportunity,"

"Fuck off," I spit. Literally. His face actually gets wet. He looks disgusted, and readies his mace to swing it at me. _I don't have time for this,_ I think, before my battle instincts kick in and I roll to the side. Russel pulls out his daggers and tries to stab me, so I rapidly duck and weave the onslaught. After dodging one particularly vicious strike, I grab his forearm in one hand and his upper arm in the other, then bend his arm the wrong way, hyperextending his elbow. He drops his dagger, yelling in pain, and tries a sloppy counterattack with his remaining knife. He fails miserably to inflict any damage on me, as I grab that arm and yank it over my shoulder with the rest of his body on the other side of mine. With a sickening crunch, and another yell of pain, I know the arm is dislocated. Dove raises his sword and takes a defensive stance, while Sky makes the mistake of going on the offensive with his halberd. A low sweeping kick sends him sprawling, and he grunts when he hits the floor.

"Is that all the mighty Team CRDL has?" I taunt.

"Dove, get her!" Cardin yells from behind me. The poor boy decides to obey his leader and swings his sword. I dodge and smile confidently, until, out of the corner of my eye, I notice the golden strand falling to the floor. _NO ONE DAMAGES MY HAIR,_ I think, as waves of rage wash over me. With a yell of anger, I launch a spinning kick at Dove's face, which he stupidly tries to block with his sword. My foot snaps the blade clean in two, and makes contact with the intended target. Another one of Team CRDL down for the count. And probably the rest of the day. Still seething, I turn towards Cardin, who now looks worried. Running towards him, I pull my fist back, intending to punch him into next week.

"That's ENOUGH, Ms. Xiao Long!" I hear from behind me. I turn and see Professor Goodwitch, just as angry as the day of the food fight. "Explain yourself!" she demands.

"I was just minding my own business, when these idiots come over and attack me," I tell her. "Self-defense isn't against the rules, is it?"

She looks at Cardin. "Is that true?"

After receiving an intimidating glare from me (unseen to Goodwitch), he gulps and nods.

"Very well. Mr. Winchester, you and Mr. Lark will report to my office in ten minutes and give me a very good reason why you attacked Ms. Long. Mr. Thrush and Mr. Bronzewing, I suggest you head to the infirmary. Ms. Xiao Long, in future, please try to resolve conflicts civilly, instead of immediately resorting to violence. That approach is only needed on Grimm, who cannot reason. You are dismissed," Goodwitch says in a commanding tone, as befits her nature.

"Yes, Miss. I'll take my leave now," I say, before heading back to my room. At this point, my anger had subsided, and I realized my hangover was gone. _Huh. Punching things really DOES help._ On the way back, I bump into Ruby, who is with Sun Wukong.

"Yang! There's a serious problem," Ruby says breathlessly. "Blake's missing."

Sun nods gravely, before saying "I was hanging out with her in the library, nothing out of the ordinary, when she got up to go to the bathroom. Twenty minutes later, she hadn't returned, so I went looking for her, and ran into Ruby. I asked if she'd seen Blake, and she hadn't, and she's not answering messages on her scroll."

At this point, I start to panic. Blake usually gives us a heads-up if she's going off on her own somewhere, and never fails to answer messages or calls if none of us know where she is. If she's been abducted, that worries me, because whoever did it must be one hell of a fighter to even lay a finger on her. Before I can say anything, however, one of the visitors from Haven approaches us. I don't know her name, but she's wearing a red dress that glows in a few places, and she has black hair going down just below one shoulder. Her yellow-orange eyes stare at us coldly.

"I'm afraid you won't be seeing your friend for a while…" she says menacingly, before continuing, "I have a use for her, then my employee will do with her as he wishes. After that, you get whatever's left…"


	3. Chapter 3

**Yang**

Hearing this "visitor", whoever the hell she is, say all that sends me over the edge for the second time today. In a fit of rage, I charge at her, but she merely smiles. There's a flash and a bang, not unlike a concussion grenade, and I'm temporarily blinded. For real this time, not like earlier when all I could see was black stuff. When my vision returns, I notice that I've been thrown against a wall, and see Ruby and Sun leaning on the wall opposite me, looking as dazed as I feel. The bitch from Haven is nowhere to be seen, and I wonder how long I was out. _Probably not long. After a noise like that, people would have come running, and the place is deserted._ All I know is that I need to find Blake. I'll never forgive myself if something happens to her, so, with that thought in mind, I whip out my scroll and send a message to Weiss. _We need to find Blake. Meet us by the fountain._ Then I remember that I don't know if Weiss heard about Blake going missing, so I send her another message. _Oh yeah, Blake went missing. Don't know if you knew that. No time to explain._ Then I grab Ruby and Sun and drag them to the fountain after heading back to the dorm to get changed and grab Ember Celica. Weiss is already waiting at the fountain when we arrive.

"Just so you know, I'm still mad about that stunt yesterday. But for Blake's sake, I will help find her," she says, glaring at me.

"Look Weiss, I'm sorry, okay? I just needed to de-stress after a long week. But for now, let's forget about it and save Blake," I tell her. The only problem is, that will be easier said than done, as we have nothing to go on in regards to where she's being held.

Apparently, Weiss realises this too. "And how do you propose we do that?"

"Torchwick's still on the loose, and he's probably pretty mad about what we did that night at the docks," Sun says, "maybe he has something to do with it."

"That actually makes sense," Ruby chimes in, "there's no way a petty criminal would need all the Dust he's stolen, so what if he's the 'employee' the woman mentioned?"

"Then we should figure out where his base of operations is," Weiss says with authority, "it's as good a place as any to start".

"Outgoing shipping has been pretty much halted to prevent all that Dust from leaving the kingdom, so our best bet would be a sizeable warehouse. But it would be heavily guarded," I say, feeling pleased with my deductive skills.

"Then we should go to the south of the city. Lotta abandoned warehouses," Sun tells us. Without further planning, I rush off, not waiting to see if the others are following.

By the time the three of them catch up, I've already found a not-so-abandoned warehouse, teeming with White Fang soldiers. When they arrive, I impatiently tell them to hurry up and catch their breath so we can make a plan of attack. My original plan _was_ attack, but is decided to wait when I saw how many guards there were.

"We'll need a distraction. Some Dust should be able to blow a hole in the wall, then we can enter the roof when they're disoriented by the explosion," suggests Weiss.

"Sounds good. Between the four of us and the element of surprise, taking them down should be no problem," I say. "Ruby, you're the leader, what's your call?"

"Let's do it," she says.

We get into position, and Weiss uses her fingers to count the seconds until the explosion. There's a colossal _boom!_ noise, and I use Ember Celica to punch a hole in the roof wide enough for Ruby, Sun and I to jump through. When we hit the floor, we see Weiss, who had entered through the hole in the wall she had made, already fighting several White Fang guards. Eager to join the fray, I head towards a large group of soldiers and give them all I've got, much like that time at Junior's club, except now I'm fighting more guys, with a better purpose. I see Sun swinging his staff at an enemy, about fifty feet from me, before breaking it down into its gunchuks form, and taking down a whole group in seconds. Ruby and Weiss are faring just as well, fighting back to back as a highly efficient unit. After taking down the last of the group I'm fighting with a devastating punch to the neck, I spot a familiar white suit and black bowler hat fleeing the scene, perhaps heading to a back room. _Roman._ After signalling to Ruby to cover my exit, I pursue him to what seems to be an office, where I see Blake, bound and gagged. Unfortunately, I also see the asshole I was chasing, with his cane pointed at my partner's head, presumably ready to fire if I make another move.

"Yellow! As much as I enjoyed the show you and your friends put on, I'm afraid you'll have to leave. Otherwise, _she..._ " he gestures at Blake, "gets her brains splattered all over the wall."

At first, I'm not sure what to do. Then I remember what the woman from Haven said. _I have use for your friend. Then my employee gets her._ "A certain woman in a red dress wouldn't exactly be pleased if you did that, now, would she, Roman?" I ask.

"Wha- How did you know?" he asks, flustered and confused.

I use those precious seconds to charge at him, and only his reflexes save him from permanent disfigurement. He blocks my punch with his cane, but the force sends him flying out the window, and he runs as soon as he gets up. At this point, I care more about Blake than Roman, so I untie and ungag her. I've never seen anyone look so relieved, especially not to see me.

"Yang! I'm so glad you're here," Blake says, almost crying from what I presume is joy about being freed, or something similar.

"I know. I'm glad to see you too. Are you all right?"

"Yeah. Just a few bruises. But how did you know where to find me?" she asks.

"Blake Belladonna, there is nowhere I wouldn't go to save you," I tell her, looking her straight in the eyes. All I can think of is how she's the most gorgeous girl in the world, and how badly I want to be with her.

Taking a deep breath, and steeling my resolve, I prepare for what I hope is the start of something great, and not something that will distance me from this raven-haired beauty. Without breaking eye contact until the last second, I lean in to kiss her.

To my surprise, she kisses back, and even goes so far as to put her hand on the back of my head to pull me in closer. Fireworks are going off inside my head. _I'm kissing her. I'm actually kissing Blake Belladonna, and she's even kissing back!_ If my mouth wasn't otherwise occupied, I feel like I would have squealed like a little girl. This isn't my first kiss, nor even my first kiss with another girl, but I'll be damned if it's not the most enjoyable.

I don't know how much later, she pulls back for air. I open my eyes, and see a huge smile plastered on Blake's face, along with a blush. I know I'm blushing just as much, but I don't care. I'm just happy that Blake doesn't hate me for what I just did, and that she seemed just as into it.

"So... Uh... Will you be the Yin to my Yang?" I ask her, with a goofy grin on my face.

She sighs at the pun, before saying something about how it's better than the cat ones. "Of course I will, Yang," she replies, and I just about melt with happiness.

"Come on, let's go back to the others before they worry," I say, then take her hand and pull her towards the door. As she entwined her fingers with mine, my heart does a tap dance in my chest, and before I know it, we're back to the main room where Weiss sees us holding hands and stares questioningly, but says nothing.

"Blake! You're okay!" Ruby exclaims happily, practically jumping on said girl to give her a hug. Unfortunately, Blake's hand is yanked from mine by the force of Ruby's tackle, but of course I forgive my baby sister. Weiss also looks pleased to see that Blake's okay, but chooses to merely smile at her. Hugs aren't her style. Sun gives her a one-armed friendly hug, before asking me if Torchwick gave me any trouble.

"Nothing I couldn't handle. The coward ran before I could give him what he deserves," I tell him. He nods.

The five of us head back to Beacon, Blake and I holding hands the entire way. Our relationship may be frowned upon, but I dare anyone to say anything about it. Right now, I'd let it go because I'm just so happy about it, but this carefree attitude towards peoples' opinions won't last forever. But no matter what happens, I'm not gonna let anything, or any _one,_ come between me and my new girlfriend.

Upon reaching our dorm, we all realise how exhausted we all are, and head to bed. Blake and I have come to a silent agreement that we'll be sharing her bed again, and she falls asleep before me. _She's so adorable when she's sleeping,_ I think, and nod off, feeling more content than I have in a long time.


	4. Chapter 4

**Yang**

When I wake up, Blake is still asleep, which is odd, considering it's past noon. This morning I don't have her trapped in a bear hug, so it's easy enough for me to get up without waking her, which I do. Taking a look around, I see Ruby and Weiss studying. Well, Weiss is studying. Ruby is searching the room for something to distract her and free her from the boredom that, presumably, Weiss subjected her to.

"Morning, you two," I tell them. Weiss grunts "it's the afternoon" without looking up, but Ruby perks up immediately.

"Yang! You're up!" she exclaims, probably convinced I'm gonna rescue her from the clutches of boredom. I have other ideas. I'm planning to spend the day with Blake, so Ruby can either enjoy some quality time with her partner or come up with her own way out.

"I hadn't noticed, sis. I'm going for a shower," I reply. Just before entering the bathroom, I see a look of confusion on Ruby's face. She probably hadn't noticed the sarcasm. Such an innocent young girl… Well, apart from the giant scythe. Which is also a gun.

In the shower, my mind turns to thoughts of Blake, and last night. _That sounds incredibly dirty, Yang. You're getting good at thoughts like this._ I can still scarcely believe that it worked out, and that Blake doesn't hate me for kissing her unexpectedly. Speaking of which, I now want to kiss her unexpectedly more often. But the fact that I was so close to catching Torchwick pisses me off. Granted, I could've gone after him, but what I chose to do instead was so much better. Next time, though, we won't let the bastard escape. If he tries to keep someone I care about away from me again, he can just _pray_ the police get to him before I do. Even if the person in question is Weiss, I'll still hurt him. _I wonder if she'd do the same for me. Probably not right now. I'm pretty sure she still hates me for getting wasted._ She really needs to lay the hell off. We can't all be perfect, and it doesn't help that I've always had a wild side. A lot of the problems between her and I wouldn't even happen if she'd just learn to deal with it. Thankfully, it's never come to blows.

After exiting the shower and drying off, I get dressed and leave the bathroom. By this point, Blake is awake and smiles at me. "Morning, beautiful," she says, making me blush.

"Uh, Blake? You do realize that it's not the morning anymore, right?" I reply, not even trying to conceal the blush. Hopefully I'll get used to compliments though. She looks surprised, and I realize it's the second day in a row when she wasn't the first to wake up. I must have a serious effect on her.

"Oh. Well, I'm going to get dressed, then we can get food. I'm starving," Blake declares, before heading past me into the bathroom. After kissing me, that is. _She is one hell of a good kisser. I wonder if she's a natural or if she's just had a lot of practice,_ I think. Considering her general antisocial personality, probably the first one. _In that case, I intend to give her_ plenty _of practice._ With that thought in mind, I sit down and wait for her to finish.

While waiting, I notice Ruby looking at Weiss weirdly, sort of like she's seeing her in a new light. I raise an eyebrow at my sister, which causes her to blush when she sees me looking. I say nothing, but silently ponder it. _Maybe Ruby really_ does _have a crush._ That thought worries me greatly, so I push it aside. I really don't want to think about our fearless leader potentially liking the Ice Queen. It's not that I have a problem with Ruby dating anyone, I just don't want her getting hurt. She's already somewhat socially inept with most people, and rejection could turn her into a recluse. Plus I can think of loads of people whom I'd rather see Ruby with than Weiss. That's not to say I'll interfere if anything happens, but still.

Blake finishes in the bathroom, so we head to the cafeteria for some food. Breakfast is no longer being served at this time of day, so we have to choose from the lunch options. Beacon is probably the only school in the world with a decent cafeteria, so it's not a problem. Team JNPR are all there, so we sit down with them, right in the middle of one of Nora's stories. Or recurring dreams, as Ren puts it.

"So then we get attacked by an Ursa Major and its-oh, hi, Blake and Yang-pack, which sounds terrifying but it wasn't because Ren is a total badass and of course I had Magnhild…" Nora rambles on, Ren making corrections occasionally.

"Hey, Yang, I heard you beat up Team CRDL yesterday," says Jaune, sounding impressed.

"That I did. Totally unarmed, because I'm just that awesome," I tell him. Blake looks confused, and I realize she hasn't heard the story. Jaune seems incredulous.

"What happened?" she asks me.

"I went to the training room while you were in the shower yesterday so I could punch things. I thought it would help the hangover. When I arrived, they were there, and they attacked me. Well, I say 'attacked'. If they were going all-out, I have my doubts about placement at this school. Goodwitch showed up before I could hit Cardin though. I didn't get in trouble because I was just defending myself. Two of them are now in the infirmary, and all I got was a warning about using violence to solve things," I explain. Blake looks concerned. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Only my hair was damaged," I reassure her.

"Shit. I almost feel bad for them now," she says, remembering what happens if someone touches my hair without permission. "They deserve it though."

"Are you guys going to the dance?" Pyrrha asks, probably bored of Nora's stories.

"Probably," I reply, while Blake shakes her head. _I can probably change her mind about that,_ I think.

"Pyrrha and I have a bet about the dance actually. I really hope I win…" Jaune chimes in.

"Oh yeah? What's the bet?" I ask, curious.

"Jaune says if I don't have a date he'll wear a dress," Pyrrha answers. I burst into laughter.

"Blake, now you have to come, to see Vomit Boy in a dress," I tell my girlfriend when I can talk.

"Um, hello? Have you _met_ Pyrrha? She'll have no problem getting someone to go with her," Jaune protests, but he does look a bit worried.

"Oh, Jaune, you poor, clueless boy," I tell him, knowing he has no idea what I mean by that, before getting up to leave with Blake. We decide to go for a walk in the Emerald Forest, so we swing by the dorm and grab our weapons first.

It's a great day to go out and kill Grimm, but instead I focus on enjoying my time with Blake. For a while neither of us say anything, and just hold hands while admiring the forest. It's a lot prettier when I'm not worrying about initiation, and I know someone's got my back if anything should happen. But really, I'm not worried about the creatures of Grimm. I'm not worried about anything when I'm with Blake.

We happen to reach the forest temple, where Teams RWBY and JNPR had come together for the first time, before we'd even been assigned our teams.

"Remember when you freaked out because crazy stuff kept happening around here?" Blake asks.

"Yup. I still have no idea how Ruby and Weiss managed to grab the talons of a Nevermore, let alone stay on that long," I answer, remembering the day fondly.

"And then Nora riding in on an Ursa. Sometimes I can't handle her, honestly," Blake says with a smile.

"Yeah, she's… She's pretty special."

Suddenly, Blake's eyes get a mischievous glint, and she pulls me in for a very unexpected, but very much appreciated kiss. Loving the feel of her soft lips on mine, I let myself get lost in the moment. I run a hand through her hair, wishing we could stay here forever. Annoyingly, we do need to breathe, so we separate and look each other in the eyes. After a couple of seconds, I kiss her again, slightly rougher this time. As she gets more into it, I gently run my tongue over her lips. They part, allowing me access. Our tongues dance around each other in her mouth, before Blake gets more aggressive and pushes me to the ground.

The sound of approaching footsteps stops us from going any further, then we hear a startled "oh! Umm… Sorry."

"Wait, is that Jaune?" I ask Blake, who nods. "This… Just got awkward."

"Yeah. At least he won't judge us," Blake says.

At this point I look up and see Vomit Boy with a deep blush on his face. His face is the colour of my eyes when I get angry. Like I said, a deep blush. Pyrrha is with him, looking more composed.

"We… Didn't mean to intrude, we were just hunting for monsters so Jaune could practice on non-human or Faunus opponents," she explained, sounding sorry for interrupting.

"No, that's fine. We just weren't planning on telling anyone yet. Ruby and Weiss knew already, but that's it," I tell them. Pyrrha and Jaune both look relieved that Blake and I aren't mad at them, then promise not to tell anyone else. Honestly, I don't trust Jaune to not accidentally let it slip out, considering he once almost announced to everyone in the library that Blake's a Faunus.

At that moment, a fully-grown Deathstalker appears from the trees, even larger than the one that chased Pyrrha on initiation day. Jaune looks ready to run, but a stern look from the redhead keeps him in place. We take up battle stances, and prepare to kill the damn thing.

It stares at us for a few seconds, almost compelling us to attack. When none of us do, it makes the first move. It takes a jab at Blake using its pincer, hitting a shadow copy. The real Blake is in the air, Gambol Shroud in pistol form. With deadly aim, she shoots at one of its eyes, taking it out before landing gracefully. Meanwhile, Jaune is flanking it, and stabs at a leg. Wounded in two places, the beast turns in Jaune's direction to deal with the new threat. At this point, I decide it no longer needs its stinger, so I fire a couple of long-range blasts from Ember Celica, getting its attention. The stinger is wounded, but still connected to its body. Before it has a chance to attack me, I charge it and punch its bone mask a few times. The mask cracks in a few places, but I don't seem to have hurt it much. I did serve as a distraction, allowing Pyrrha to throw Miló in its javelin form and have a clear shot at the stinger. Miló goes straight through, causing the Deathstalker to roar in pain. While its mouth is open, I fire a shot from Ember Celica at the unguarded flesh inside, before retreating to plan my next move. I see Blake behind it, signaling to the rest of us to keep the Grimm occupied. With a couple of shotgun blasts from me, and a shield bash from Pyrrha, it focuses on us. Blake jumps on its back and shoots out three more eyes before being shaken off. Now half-blind, the Deathstalker becomes more defensive.

"Someone needs to get underneath it!" Pyrrha yells at us, which Jaune volunteers to do. While us girls buy him some time, he prepares to get a running start to slide under. Blake throws Gambol Shroud in pistol form and gets it jammed in a chink in the Deathstalker's armour. She takes a running jump, grabs her weapon and fires just as Jaune slides under the beast and delivers a lethal strike to its underbelly. He manages to get out from under it just before it collapses on him.

"Well, I guess it's a "Dead"-stalker now, am I right?" I say, feeling pleased with my pun.

"…Goddammit, Yang," Blake says, rolling her eyes, but there is a smile on her face. Reveling in our victory, the four of us head back to Beacon where we spend the rest of the day without incident.


	5. Chapter 5

**Roman**

After the yellow brat almost disfigured me, I run to another hideout, where I mentally kick myself, both for allowing myself to be beaten and for failing to keep Black captive. _How the hell did Yellow know about Cinder? Because of that, I'm fucked when she finds out what happened._ As if hearing my thoughts, Cinder enters my hideout, literal fires burning in her eyes. I can tell she's pissed.

"You _idiot_ , Roman!" she yells, and I flinch. "I gave you one thing to do, and you lose the Faunus. You had an _army_ with you, dammit!"

"It... It's these kids. They're tougher than they look," I half-heartedly answer, hoping she doesn't incinerate me. "And when Yellow's pissed, it's better to let her have what she wants."

"You think the fury of a _child_ matters to me?" Cinder says in a much softer tone. "No, Roman, _I'm_ the one you should worry about."

By now, the flames in her eyes have died down, but there's still a dangerous glint in them. I'm almost praying there's some way I can remedy the situation without dying.

"Lucky for you, Roman, I have a backup plan," Cinder tells me. "When I give you the signal, follow these orders _exactly._ Otherwise..." A fireball appears in her hand with this last word, before she fills me in on her new plan. My eyes widen as I listen to the details. _Oh boy, this is gonna be fun._

**Yang**

We're back to classes. Damn. This weekend was great, apart from the stressful part when we didn't know what had happened to Blake, but it all worked out. Unfortunately, Professor Oobleck decided it would be an awesome idea to have a surprise test today. In first period. I never study unless I know there's a test, so I know I'm screwed. After marking every multiple choice question as "C", and half-assing my way through the written section, I hand my test in and wait for the bell.

Next, we have sparring practice with Goodwitch. I actually like this class, because I'm _supposed_ to punch stuff to get grades, so it suits me just fine. Unfortunately, due to the upcoming dance, the veteran Huntress has decided we need to learn how to dance formally. She tells us to partner up, so I of course go with Blake. Looking around, I see Pyrrha not giving Jaune a choice about who his partner was gonna be. No surprise there. After a couple of minutes, only two people are on their own. Ruby and the Ice Queen. Both looking highly embarrassed, but Weiss looking slightly more dignified, they reluctantly take each other by the hand and follow Glynda's instructions along with the rest of the class. I'm unable to concentrate, because I'm too busy either trying not to laugh at how flustered the other half of Team RWBY look, or trying to figure out where the embarrassment's coming from. There are pairs of guys who seem fine, just a tad uncomfortable, so it can't be the fact that they're the same gender. I still don't wanna believe that Ruby might have a crush on Weiss, but every day it seems there's more evidence pointing at that possibility. It also seems that Weiss may return at least some feelings, but the stuck-up heiress would never admit it, nor will I say anything.

Distracted, I trip over Blake's feet a lot. She's not as coordinated as usual either, occasionally stealing glances at our teammates and smiling, so she doesn't seem to upset by this. The professor, on the other hand...

"Ms Xiao Long! Are you even going to make an effort? You're gonna be representing Beacon and all of Vale at this event, so you'd better figure out what you're doing," she tells me sternly.

The class continues in much the same way until the bell, at which point I rush outside and crack up. Blake follows shortly, accompanying my hysterics with a more controlled laugh. Ruby and Weiss exit the class, both of their faces the same colour as Ruby's cloak. When they see us laughing, they are most definitely not amused. We head to the cafeteria for our lunch break, during which Ruby is quieter than usual, and Weiss stares at her fingernails the whole time.

"What do you think's going on with those two?" Blake whispers in my ear.

"No idea. But I'll be damned if I don't tease them about it," I whisper back, relishing the thought of how annoying I'm going to be. "So, Ruby, how'd you like dancing with Weiss?" I ask my sister with a mischievous grin on my face.

"It was fine! Totally fine and not weird at all," she answers, blushing yet again.

"It was a necessity, Yang," Weiss says sternly, before looking back at her nails. "It meant nothing." I note how both of them sounded like they were trying to play it cool in their own ways. Interesting.

"Pyrrha, got a date yet?" I ask the Mistralian warrior.

"No, not yet," she replies.

I smirk at Vomit Boy. "So, when are you going dress shopping?" I ask him. He looks worried, and rightly so. The dance is this Sunday. If he doesn't grow a brain and notice Pyrrha's blindingly obvious affection in the next five days, he's gonna have a night of embarrassment he'll _never_ live down. _Being the good friend I am, I'll make sure he never lives it down,_ I think. Deep down, I do feel bad for him though. I decide I'll wait until Friday, then if he's still being dense, give him a small push.

"This morning, I had SOOOOOO MUUUUUCH syrup!" Nora yells suddenly. "I had like, three jars!"

"You're unbelievably calm for someone who's consumed that much sugar," Blake tells her. "I couldn't tell anything was out of the ordinary."

Nora then decides she needs MORE sugar, so she attempts to raid the kitchen. The smell of fresh-baked cookies wafts out, causing Ruby to perk up immediately. She follows Nora, and I pity the school cooks. When those two want sugar, they _get_ sugar, no matter what.

No one complains that Nora's gone, because it means a temporary respite from her stories. We all like her just as much as any of the other members of the two teams, but she's a bit hard to handle at times, even for me, and I've put up with Ruby for a decade and a half. Of course, I still love my baby sister, I don't begrudge her all the times she annoyed me when we were growing up.

At that point, the hyper girls return, Nora covered in syrup, Ruby with cookie crumbs around her mouth.

"Hey, Weiss, wanna kiss the crumbs off Ruby's face?" I tease, but I'm met with a glare so cold it could stop me when someone touches my hair. At least, it would be able to, were Weiss not blushing furiously at the comment. She decides to leave before I can say anything else, and storms out of the cafeteria, probably to our dorm.

"Uhh... What?" asks Jaune, confused at what he just saw.

"I have no idea what's between them. But it's fun to tease them," I answer.

"You should tease them a little less, honey," Blake tells me.

"Okay, fine, I'll put my mouth to a different use," I answer, before kissing her suddenly. When I pull away, she has a smile on her face, and Ren seems surprised, but doesn't say anything.

Nora, on the other hand, squeals "you guys are so cuuuute!", drawing the attention of a group of boys in the year above us who are sitting at the next table. They give her a dirty look, before one of them asks a question.

"Wait, did the blonde just... Kiss the other one?" He sounds doubtful, like he doesn't know if he saw right.

"Fuckin' dykes!" his friend says. "Almost as bad as the Faunus."

I decide I can restrain Blake to stop her from slitting throats, or let the bastard have it from one of the deadliest fighters I know. His comment struck a nerve with me, so I make no effort to stop my girlfriend as she attacks. Due to surprise, the student doesn't react quickly enough, and finds his head slammed into some mashed potatoes. Trying to spit them out of his mouth, he doesn't notice an unopened soda can flying towards his head in the hand of a very angry, very sexy Blake Belladonna.

"You're screwed," I tell him. As he looks up, Blake's can hits him in the nose, bursting and spraying soda everywhere. Using a shadow clone, Blake jumps clear of the spray and her clothes remain spotless. Meanwhile, the recipient of her attack is just sitting, stunned. His teammates are doing the same, either in shock or fear. Not wanting a repeat of the food fight incident to happen in the middle of term, Ruby drags Blake away, and I quickly follow.

"You should have stopped me," Blake tells me. "I was ready to kill him."

"He deserved what he got. But you're gonna take the rest of the day off to calm down. I'll stay here with you during Port's class, it's a waste of time anyway."

After a few minutes, Blake is still breathing heavily, so I tell her to turn around. I begin massaging her shoulders, feeling her body relax under my hands. I slowly work my way down her back, hearing her moan slightly with pleasure. By the time I'm done, she seems to have forgotten all about what happened, so we lie down on her bed and kiss for a while, before the comfort of the bed and the warmth of each others' bodies causes us to nod off.


	6. Chapter 6

**Weiss**

After the blonde brute I have to call a teammate made those frankly _idiotic_ comments, I stormed out of the cafeteria and headed outside. People call Nora high-maintenance. Try living with _Yang Xiao Long_ all the time. She is, without a doubt, the most annoying person I have ever met. For a while, I thought it was Ruby, but after maturing a bit and getting some responsibility, she's grown on me. I actually quite like her. Contrary to what the girl's sister would have you believe, I do _not_ have a crush on my leader. Okay, maybe I admire her fighting prowess just a _little_ bit, and she can be cute at times. But I'm the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. I have an image to uphold, not to mention my parents' reaction if I got myself a girlfriend. And Ruby is still a dunce, no matter how adorable she is. It just isn't possible for me to have a crush on her. I _refuse_ to believe its possible. But what if it is? If, hypothetically speaking, I _have_ fallen for Ruby, what would I do? Would she feel the same way? This is not something I have any experience with. A sheltered upbringing and mainly being allowed to socialise with potential suitors chosen by my mother and father doesn't exactly allow for a wide emotional span. I suppose I _have_ been blushing around her. That's what people do when they're around someone they like, right? I just don't know...

**Yang**

Blake and I wake up several hours later, and I realise two things. I accidentally missed all my afternoon classes, when I only meant to skip Port's, and Weiss hasn't been to the dorm. I can tell. She definitely would have thrown a conniption fit if she'd seen Blake and I sleeping instead of going to class. Maybe I took it too far at lunch. _When I see her, I'm gonna apologise,_ I decide. My stomach rumbles, and a look at the clock tells me dinner is still being served.

"Blake, I'm going to get food. You coming?" I ask her. She answers with a nod.

We walk to the cafeteria hand in hand, and pass Team CRDL on the way. Cardin sees us and seems about to say something derogatory, but I give him a look that says "you speak, you die", so he keeps quiet. As we walk away, I hear the four of them whispering, but it can't make out what's being said. However, I feel Blake tense up beside me, so I guess her enhanced Faunus hearing let her know exactly what Team Pricks talked about.

"Let it go, babe. They won't do anything that would piss me off. They're too scared of me now," I tell her, and she relaxes slightly.

We reach the cafeteria a couple of minutes later, and I see Weiss sitting alone in a corner, looking lost and confused. This is the first time I've seen her without her arrogant demeanour, and I instantly feel _really_ bad, and remember my decision to apologise.

"Hey, can you get me some food while you get yours? I'm going to apologise to Weiss," I say to Blake. She looks at me incredulously, but sees I'm serious and smiles.

"Of course. I'll see you soon," she says, giving me a quick peck on the cheek. She walks off to join the line for dinner while I head over to where Weiss is sitting.

"What do you want?" she asks sourly, having looked up when she heard me approaching.

I take a deep breath, thinking how best to word this. "Look, Weiss, I wanted to apologise for earlier. I really didn't mean to hurt your feelings. You know I like teasing people, but sometimes I take it too far. I'm not asking you to forgive me, but I want you to know I'm really, truly sorry," I tell her.

She looks at me, not sure whether to believe me or not. There's a long silence, but eventually she says "your apology is duly noted. I will consider whether or not to accept it."

Figuring that's as good as it's gonna get for now, I head over to the table where Ruby, Blake and JNPR are sitting. Blake certainly didn't skimp when she picked my meal for me; there's a full roast chicken, lots of bacon, assorted vegetables and a steak waiting for me when I sit down. I raise an eyebrow at her, and she merely states "I didn't know what you wanted."

 _I have an awesome girlfriend,_ I think. _She doesn't know what I want to eat, so she gets me everything._

"Plus you gave me an awesome massage, so I felt like I owed you one," she adds with a smile. Jaune's eyes widen, so Blake clarifies " _not_ a happy ending," and winks. Jaune gets embarrassed, and tries to explain that that wasn't what he was thinking. At least, I'm assuming that's what he was trying to say. He kept stuttering and seemed to have forgotten how to speak. I laugh, and start demolishing my chicken. _That's probably a euphemism for something,_ I think.

Before any more conversation takes place, I feel a tap on my shoulder. Turning, I see Weiss, looking slightly more like her normal self.

"I accept your apology. But make sure it doesn't happen again. _Ever_ ," she says, and I promise it won't, while feeling glad that she seems to be on better terms with me now. She leaves the cafeteria.

"I'm proud of you, Yang," Blake says from beside me. "You managed to give a good enough apology that Weiss actually _accepted_ it. Not many people can do that."

"Ruby normally has no trouble," I say, while my sister attempts to hide her blush. I decide I've teased her enough for today, so I tell her I won't do it again.

"I don't believe you," she says.

"All right, how about this: if I make one comment that can be considered teasing you, I'll bake you some cookies. A full batch, with extra chocolate chips _and_ sugar," I offer.

She knows I wouldn't make an offer like that lightly, so she accepts the bet.

"Yang, you should probably keep your mouth shut except to eat. I for one do not want to see Ruby on a cookie high," Ren tells me, with a small smile on his face.

"Hey! I can _not_ tease Ruby! Just because I tease her when you're around doesn't mean I always do it!" I say defensively.

"I know, I know, I'm kidding," he answers. "But seriously, please be _really_ careful what you say, for all our sakes."

"What if I just leave and make out with Blake all evening? My mouth will be occupied, so I won't be talking," I suggest, winking at my girlfriend.

"What if I don't want second-hand flavours from your dinner?" she counters.

"Well played, Blakey, well played," I answer. "But I know you can't resist me."

"I'm pretty sure my resolve is stronger than yours, Yang."

"You two should make a game out of that!" Nora says. "Whoever kisses the other first loses, and you can do whatever you want to make the other want to kiss you."

 _That actually sounds pretty fun,_ I think, smiling. _But also torturous._ "Blake, what do you suggest the winner gets a prize?" I ask her.

"If I win, you have to actually study for once. Properly," she says.

"Fine. _When_ I win, you have to go to the dance with me," I answer.

"You're on," she states, with a confident smile.

"Let's end the game on Friday morning. That way, we'll have most of the weekend for you to go dress shopping," I tell her.

"Sure you can go that long?" she teases. I stick my tongue out at her.

"All right, the game starts... Now!" Nora states, shouting the last word.

I shake my head slightly at how excited about everything she always is, before mentally preparing myself to resist the allure of Blake's wonderfully soft lips. _This is gonna be a long week..._


	7. Chapter 7

**Ruby**

On Friday morning, I wake up feeling _really_ sick. Maybe raiding the kitchen with Nora again last night wasn't such a good idea after all. But it was fun, and there were _so many cookies_! I don't even know how I got to sleep last night. Speaking of which, how long did I actually sleep? There's no light coming in from behind the curtains, so it must still be dark out. I try to roll over to see the clock, but my stomach lurches painfully, so I give up. I decide I'm not going to classes today, and try to get back to sleep.

Feeling like days have passed, I see my teammates beginning to stir. Blake's the first up, as usual, and she delicately extracts herself from Yang's embrace. I never expected those two to get... Involved, but they're really cute together. I briefly wonder if anyone's won their little game yet, but then I groan as my stomachache intensifies.

While Blake showers, Weiss wakes up, and gently shakes me, intending to wake me up.

"I'm really sick, Weiss. I'm taking the day off," I tell her with a pained voice. I notice how she looks genuinely upset to hear that I'm unwell, and my heart does a backflip. I'm not sure why, though.

"Okay, Ruby, I'm going to trust you on this, and assume you're not just trying to get out of classes. Want me to stay with you?" she asks, in the kindest tone I've ever heard her use.

"N-no, that's okay. Go to class and don't worry about me, I'll be fine," I reply, trying to smile. "Besides, I'm not worth losing your perfect attendance record."

"Ruby Rose, a stupid academic record is _far_ less important to me than the well-being of my teammates, including your sister. But don't tell her I said that," Weiss tells me. "But if you're sure you'll be okay on your own..."

"I'm sure, Weiss. Just focus on class, and I'll be fine."

Just then, Blake exits the bathroom and nudges her girlfriend awake. It takes several nudges and a couple of snips at the air with Weiss' scissors she uses to cut off loose threads in her clothes for Yang to actually wake up, immediately assuming her blonde mane is at risk of attack. Weiss goes to get dressed, while my sister makes coffee, which she offers to all of us. I refuse, and try to think of a way to make her not worry when she finds out I'm not going to class. Eventually, I just tell her, and an almost exact repeat of my conversation with Weiss ensues, except the part about what's important to her. Yang, being the ever-loving sister she is, still insists on staying with me to take care of me, until Blake cuts in.

"Yang, you can't miss any more classes. And Ruby's old enough to look after herself for a day. It's not like she'll be doing anything," the quietest member of Team RWBY says. Yang sighs, and agrees to go to class.

"But I'm coming to see you at lunch," she tells me. I tell her that's fine.

A while later, my teammates have gone to class, and I'm alone with my thoughts. _Why did my heart go crazy when Weiss looked upset earlier? And why does Yang keep teasing me about her? And why do I keep blushing when I'm with her? Is this what it's like to have a crush on someone?_ That explanation makes sense. I've never had a crush before, so I don't know what it feels like. If I do have one on Weiss, Yang definitely knows, but she prefers to tease me about it rather than talking to me about it. No surprise there. But Weiss is a girl, and I'm a girl. Do I even like girls? Does this mean... I'm a lesbian? _Don't overthink this, Ruby. You'll figure it out,_ I tell myself, without much confidence.

After several hours trying to understand my feelings, only getting more confused, the door opens and Yang enters in a rush.

"Ruby! Are you okay?" she practically yells.

"I'm feeling a bit better," I tell her, which is true. My stomachache has gone away slightly, it it still hurts. She looks relieved, and I decide I should talk to her about Weiss. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Of course you can, sis. What's up?" Yang answers with a caring smile.

"You have to promise to take it seriously, and not tell anyone," I warn.

"I won't, Ruby. You sound serious, so I'm gonna respect whatever you tell me and keep it between us. Trust me." I know she's telling the truth, so I think about what I'm gonna say.

"It... It's Weiss," I say, feeling a blush on my face already. Immediately, Yang gets a knowing look in her eyes. "I think I might have a crush on her."

"You're worried she might not feel the same way?"

"Yeah, that's part of it. I also just don't know what to do. If I get distracted by a relationship, what good would I be as a leader?" I ask.

Yang sighs. "Look, Ruby, the best thing to do is just let her know how you feel. The pain of rejection is nothing compared to the thoughts of what could have been if you'd taken the risk. Trust me, I've been there." I can tell she's not gonna go into details of _when_ she'd been there, but Yang's always been adventurous, so I don't doubt that at least one person has turned her down.

"I don't know how to tell her though," I say. "What if I screw up?"

"I know you're new to dating and stuff, but you can't second guess yourself. That's the absolute worst thing you can do. It'll lead to chickening out of doing anything, and then you'll have no chance with the person you want to be with. Why don't you just ask her to the dance? It's fairly innocent, but romance can still blossom," my sister suggests.

"That's actually a good idea. But I'll wait until I'm feeling better," I decide, but Yang shakes her head.

"Don't wait. It'll make you second guess yourself. Just ask her when you see her, and don't hesitate. Be confident. You can do this," she says, giving me an encouraging smile.

"Thanks for the help, sis," I tell her gratefully.

"Anytime."

She leaves, and I think about how I'm gonna go about asking Weiss to go with me to the dance. _I got this. I just have to say it._

A couple of minutes later, Weiss enters the dorm room to check on me. I decide that this is a perfect time, and that I should get it over with.

"Don't worry, Weiss, I'm fine. But I need to ask you something," I say.

"I'm listening."

**Yang**

After leaving the dormitory, I head to the cafeteria. On the way, I remember that my contest with Blake has ended, and I smile at the thought of kissing her again. Distracted by excitement, I don't notice a certain beautiful cat Faunus sneaking up on me until I feel those wonderfully soft lips being pressed against mine.

"You win," Blake whispers when she pulls back. At first I'm surprised, because that means she's going to the dance, but the game already ended.

"The contest is over, isn't it?" I ask her, smiling.

"Technically. But you still win."

"So now you actually want to accompany me on Sunday?"

"Yes, Yang, I do. I'm going to Vale to buy a dress when classes end, but you're not coming. I want to surprise you on Sunday," she answers. "Anyway, how's Ruby doing?"

"She said she's feeling better. And she's asking Weiss to the dance."

Amber eyes widen in surprise. "Really? What brought that on? And why did she tell you?"

"I've already said more than I should have. I promised not to tell anyone," I tell Blake. She looks like she's forming her own assumptions. "Now let's go eat, I'm starving."

We spend an uneventful lunch hour in the cafeteria with Weiss and Team JNPR. Weiss looks pleased, but I don't comment. Meanwhile, Jaune looks even more worried than ever. _He is so damn oblivious,_ I think, internally smiling a little. _I guess I'll give him a small push in the right direction later. Save him the embarrassment._

The afternoon is just as uneventful as lunch, but more boring. I find myself wondering how the conversation went between Ruby and Weiss. I get myself through Grimm Studies by imagining all the possibilities, then rush back to the dorm to see Ruby before anyone else gets there as soon as the bell rings. She's looking much better now, probably because Weiss accepted her proposal. _Couldn't you have thought of a better word, Yang? "Proposal" makes it sound like they're getting married._ I don't learn anything other than "she said yes!" before Blake enters the room. Weiss enters soon after, and Blake announces she needs to get the airship to the city.

Without a girlfriend for the evening, I decide to go punch things. Upon my arrival in the training room, I see Jaune stabbing a straw dummy with his sword. The place is empty apart from him and I, so I decide to advise him while I have the chance.

"Oh, hey, Yang," he says when he sees me. "What colour dress do you think would work best for me?"

"Does Pyrrha still not have a date?" I reply.

"No, so I figure I'll need to sort out what I'm wearing," the oblivious fool says dejectedly.

"Have you thought about... Maybe asking Pyrrha?"

He laughs. "As if! Why would a celebrity want to go to a dance with _me_?"

"Two things. First, you need to have more confidence in yourself. Second, asking Pyrrha is just about the only hope you have of _not_ having to embarrass yourself in front of the whole school," I tell him. _I haven't given any indication that she actually likes him, so surely she won't be mad at me for this, right? Right._

"You know what? You're right. I don't want to be a laughingstock, so I'm gonna ensure it doesn't happen. Do you know where she is?"

"No. I've been in hanging out with Blake."

"Ah," Jaune says, before rushing off to find Pyrrha. To my surprise, he didn't leave anything behind.

**Weiss**

"I'm listening."

"Do you... Do you want to go to the dance with me on Sunday?" Ruby asks me timidly.

I blink, unsure if I heard correctly. _Did she really just ask me out?_ "What?" I say in surprise.

She looks crestfallen, before repeating the question. _Yes, she did really just ask me out._ After evaluating my feelings over the last week, I've reached the conclusion that I do actually like my adorable leader. The only problem I have with this is that it means her brute of a sister is correct. In accordance with this conclusion, I give her my answer. "Yes, Ruby. I would love to."

She perks up immediately, almost seeming completely cured of whatever sickness she had. "Really? You mean it?" she asks.

"Of course I do. Would I lie about something like that?"

"No, I guess not," Ruby says happily.

**Roman**

The preparations are almost complete. All that's left is acquiring the mechs and training the... New assets, for want of a better term. _Of course, there's still that one last step. I wish I knew how to execute it..._


	8. Chapter 8

**Yang**

I stand at the door greeting people as they arrive at the dance. Blake, surprisingly, took a really long time to get ready, and hasn't shown up yet. I don't doubt that she will, and I can't wait to see how stunning she'll look. I'm wearing a simple white dress for the formal part of the dance, but I'm gonna change into something more… me later. Ruby and Weiss enter arm in arm, both looking happy to be together. Weiss is wearing a white dress, similar to mine, except it turns translucent a bit below the neckline. Ruby's opted for a red and black dress which splits from the stomach and upwards, but is held together by some string. Or shoelaces. This is Ruby we're talking about, I wouldn't be surprised if her dress does have shoelaces in it. She's also wearing high heels, which she doesn't seem to be able to walk in. I smile at the sight, before deciding to be cheeky.

"So, you two finally figured it out, did you?" I ask them with a wink. "Enjoy yourselves."

Weiss facepalms, before shaking her head and stating she's not gonna let me annoy her tonight. I decide I'm not gonna ruin anything for my sister, and silently pledge to leave them be for the whole evening. After a while, I see Jaune enter, in a suit and tie. He's holding Pyrrha's hand and looking pretty pleased with himself. Pyrrha looks like she can't quite believe it's happening. I feign surprise, and tell them to have fun.

Sometime later, it seems as though everyone in Beacon has arrived, except for Blake. I briefly wonder if she's changed her mind, but then the door opens. Blake is standing there, and my jaw drops. She looks absolutely _gorgeous._ I'd thought it'd be me turning heads later when I get into my other outfit, but now I'll be shocked if anyone even notices me. I'm momentarily speechless.

"Blake, you look amazing. I'd go so far as to say you look… Purr-fect," I tell her when I can talk again. She rolls her eyes, before smiling and pulling me in for a passionate kiss.

"You don't look too bad yourself," she says when she pulls away.

"Wanna go dance? I don't feel like waiting for anyone else to arrive," I ask, offering her my hand. She nods and takes it, so I pull her gently to the dance floor. We enjoy ourselves for a while, and I realize the current song is ending. I decide to surprise Blake, and twirl her around, then lower her somewhat and go for a dip kiss.

I'm feeling hot at this point, so I decide to get some punch. Blake accompanies me, and I still can't get over how good she looks tonight.

Apparently, she caught me staring. "What?" she asks, smiling.

"You're just so damn beautiful," I answer, and she blushes. Before I can say anything else, I spot Ruby's face through the crowd. She's dancing with Weiss, and looking at me with a look that says "what do I do now?". She's too far away to hear me, so I gesture at her partner and then kiss Blake. She seems to catch my meaning, because she gulps. I don't see anything else, as another couple moves into my line of sight. It doesn't take long for me to figure out what happened though, because I hear Nora's voice seconds later.

"OMIGOD YOU GUYS TOO?! YOU'RE ADORABLE!" Everyone stops what they're doing and stares, including the musicians onstage. I catch sight of Ruby again, whose face matched her dress in terms of colour, and there's a huge smile on her face. I've only seen her smile like that twice before: once when she got accepted to Beacon, and once when she got an ungodly amount of cookies at a birthday party when she was younger. _Good on ya, Ruby. I'm proud of you,_ I think, smiling at my sister.

"You looked like that after you kissed me for the first time, honey, so I hope you're not planning to tease her about it," my girlfriend tells me.

"No, Blake, I'm not. And there's no way I looked like that."

"Sure you didn't," Blake says, smiling. I suggest going for some fresh air, so we head to the roof. As we reach the door of the dance hall, Jaune and Pyrrha walk through it, both looking slightly out of breath. I give them a knowing wink, and they both turn the colour of Pyrrha's hair. Blake and I get to the roof, and have a great view of Vale while sitting together in the moonlight. _This is much more romantic than any dance. I don't even wanna go back._ I open my mouth to suggest it, but get interrupted by an explosion in the city.

"What the fuck was that?!" I yell. From where we are, we can also the dance hall, and from the view through the windows I see everyone proceeding as normal. _Why did I insist on those giant speakers?_ I mentally scold myself. _No one in there heard a thing._ I look at Blake, and we have a silent conversation. We run to our room to get our normal clothes on and grab our weapons, before heading to Vale to investigate the explosion. During this time, we decided we didn't have time to alert everyone else to what was going on, so we have no backup if anything happens.

When we get to the site of the explosion, we stop dead in our tracks. There's an Atlesian Paladin with the White Fang logo painted on it, shooting everything in sight. Vale has no military, so there's only the police and us who can do anything. As I ponder this, a huge amount of White Fang soldiers swarm out of a building behind the Paladin. One of them spots us, and tells everyone else to attack. _Well, we're fucked._ Beside me, Blake unsheathes Gambol Shroud and prepares for battle. "Yang, this is kill or be killed. If we worry about keeping these guys alive while fighting them, we _will_ die," she tells me. I don't like it, but I nod. I activate Ember Celica, determined to protect as many civilians as I can. I figure I'll have the best chance of survival if I charge them, because they won't fire their guns if they might hit each other. At least, I hope they won't. With that thought in mind, I run at the enemy, using a blast from my gauntlets to propel me faster. The first guy doesn't even know what hit him, as my fist hits his face with the force of a bullet. After that, the soldiers unsheathe various melee weapons, including swords, machetes, even a hammer. I let my reflexes take over, giving no thought to my movements. The only thing I _do_ think about is the Paladin, which can probably fire precisely enough to hit me and miss all the White Fang soldiers. Ducking and rolling around countless attacks, I viciously punch and kick anyone in my way as I head towards the Paladin, intending to let it hit me and activate my Semblance. Blake seems to realize this, as she jumps off a shadow clone and takes out the targeting cameras on the mech with a series of precise slashes. She then jumps back into the fray, covering me as I challenge the pilot of the mech to hit me. _This is gonna hurt,_ I think. _But what are my other options?_ As the Paladin's fist pulls back, Blake looks at me as if to say "are you sure?". I nod, and brace myself. The metal fist comes towards me, and time slows down. I'm suddenly aware of everything happening around me. There are fires burning all over the place, and several broken Grimm masks lying around. My clothes are cut up, but nothing is revealed so it doesn't bother me. After an eternity, the Paladin finally hits me.

 _Fuck! That_ really _hurt!_ I think, before noticing that I'm now embedded in the wall of a building. I feel energy coursing through my body, and almost pity my enemies.

"That's one down!" yells the leader of the soldiers, right before I jump down in front of him.

"Oh yeah?" I ask, grabbing him and throwing him at the Paladin. He hits it with such force the cabin is dented. It stops completely, and I figure the controls were damaged and don't work anymore. In true Yang fashion, I decide to end the fight in style. I leap in the air, twist, and come down with my fist aiming at the ground. As it connects, I fire Ember Celica, creating a shockwave that instantly knocks out everyone within fifty feet. Except for Blake, who knew what I was gonna do when she saw me jump, so she leapt into the air and avoided the shockwave. I hear a metallic clatter, and look around to see that the Atlesian Paladin fell apart from my attack, and the pilot is alive, trying to surrender. I march over to him, and he starts visibly shaking in fear.

"Who sent you?" I demand, grabbing him by the shoulders.

"T-Torchwick! H-h-he got us the Paladins and the weapons, and told us to create a diversion in the city!"

"Diversion for what?" I snarl at him.

"The other attack. On Beacon," he replies, smiling when he sees the look on my face. I punch him, and I don't even know if he survives.

By now, the police finally show up, with a force that _may_ have been able to stop the White Fang. They stop when they see a destroyed street, the shattered façade of a building, the remains of a state-of-the-art war machine, the dead or unconscious bodies of terrorists and two teenage girls, one of whom probably looks pissed. I don't know though, because I can't see myself right now.

"You may want to clean up," I tell them, before Blake and I head back to Beacon in a flat sprint. The sight that meets us on arrival makes my heart stop.


	9. Chapter 9

**Ruby**

_These stupid heels. How can anyone walk in them?_ I'm annoyed at myself for choosing to wear high heels. But I'll power through my difficulties with them. I'm at the dance with Weiss, I'm gonna enjoy the evening. I can't believe she agreed to come with me. She's simply stunning. It's actually worth not being able to walk to be able to see Weiss tonight. On the way to the dance, Weiss loops her arm through mine. Neither of us say anything though. We just enter the dance hall, and see Yang greeting everyone.

"So, you two finally figured it out, huh?" she asks, and winks. I ignore her, which I'm pretty used to doing when she's being annoying, while Weiss facepalms.

"I'm not going to let your brute of a sister annoy me tonight, Ruby," she tells me. "I'm going to enjoy my time with you." With that, she leads me to the dance floor.

As we dance, I know people are staring at the two of us the way I stare at people who choose to eat raisin cookies instead of chocolate chip. No one says anything though, probably because they're afraid of incurring Weiss' wrath. After a few songs, I catch Yang's eye while she's getting punch. I try to ask her what I should do now with my eyes and without Weiss noticing. It seems to work, because my sister gestures at my partner, the kisses Blake. I know exactly what she's trying to say, and I gulp nervously. I've never kissed anyone before, much less an heiress to a multi-billion Lien company, but I tell myself that if I can face down a giant Nevermore, I can do this simple act. I tune everything out, sights and sounds, and focus completely on Weiss. _She really is beautiful. I could stare at her forever and not get bored._ Looking her straight in the eyes, I lean in slightly, hoping I don't do anything wrong. Weiss also leans towards me, which tells me she wants me to do this. I force myself to ignore my nervousness, and go for it.

It feels... Nice. I don't know how else to describe it. I've always found the idea of kissing kind of gross, but I've always thought of it with guys, not girls. I don't know if it would be different, and I don't care. I focus on Weiss' lips, feeling their softness. _I could get used to this,_ I think, before I realise I'm out of breath, so I pull back and open my eyes. I see Weiss smiling, and I know I'm smiling just as wide, but I'm also blushing. So is she. Before either of us say anything, someone else does.

"OMIGOD YOU GUYS TOO?! YOU'RE ADORABLE!" Nora yells from somewhere. She's so loud, everyone stops and stares. I look around, and see Yang smiling proudly. After several seconds, or maybe a few minutes, I don't know, everyone goes back to what they were doing, and I ask Weiss if we're dating now.

"Of course we are, you dunce," she answers smiling. "You're still a dunce, but you're _my_ dunce now."

"So that means you're my princess, right?" I jokingly ask.

"Yes, Ruby."

The next half hour is a blur. I feel really happy the whole time, but that's all I know. I have a sense of... What's that word... Eu... Euphorism? I think that's it. Anyway, Weiss and I are getting punch when we hear glass shatter. We turn to the window, and find that it's broken. Various Grimm are pouring in, and very few students can defend themselves in formal clothes without their weapons. Weiss is one of those students, because of her glyphs.

"Ruby! Go to our dorm, get changed and get Crescent Rose and Myrtenaster! Now!" she yells at me. I nod, and remove my high heels so I can run. Loose stones dig into my feet, but I ignore them in my determination to get prepared to fight before too many people get hurt. On the way, I see hundreds of Grimm approaching the school.

I run into a Beowolf just before reaching the dorm building, and think it looks different from normal, but I'm not sure why. I ignore this thought, and run around it and up to my room. It takes me less than five seconds to change, then I grab mine and Weiss' weapons. I jump out the window to save time, and fire a shot from Crescent Rose to slow me down before hitting the ground. I get back to the dance hall in no time, and throw Weiss her rapier. Unfolding Crescent Rose, I prepare to do one of my favourite things: killing Grimm.

I easily slash through every opponent I see, with one thought in my head the whole time. _Where the hell are Blake and Yang_? After finishing off an Ursa, I turn and see something that stops me in my tracks. Another Ursa, behind Weiss, with its claw raised, about to strike. She doesn't know it's there, and I'm too far away to help. I can't risk shooting, because I might hit her. I close my eyes in despair, until I hear a distinctive sound. A shotgun blast, to be precise. I look up, and see my sister standing where the Ursa used to be, one of her gauntlets smoking. Blake is behind her, striking at any target in range. I run over, slicing a Beowolf in half along the way.

"Where the _hell_ have you two been?" I ask Blake and Yang.

"Vale. The White Fang attacked on Torchwick's orders," Yang explains. "No time to go any further." She's right, as one of the walls explodes, and an Atlesian Paladin enters. Through the hole, I see at least ten more. All of them have the White Fang logo on them. It suddenly dawns on me that the extremist group is somehow behind the Grimm attack. With so many Paladins, and an army of Grimm seemingly supporting them, it looks like the end for all of us, but Team RWBY doesn't retreat if we're gonna die anyway.

"All right, girls, we probably won't make it out of this one, but I'm going to kill every single fucking one of them that I possibly can. Are you with me?" I ask.

Yang looks shocked, because she's never heard me use that kind of language before, but she nods and stares defiantly at the enemy. Weiss and Blake also nod, and the four of us look death straight in the face, and smile.

**Yang**

Blake and I head back to Beacon in a flat sprint. The sight that meets us on arrival makes my heart stop. A stupidly huge number of Grimm, more than I've ever seen in one place, is attacking the school. Even worse than that, there are at least a dozen Atlesian Paladins, decked out in White Fang colours. I look at Blake.

"Are they… Working together?" I ask.

"It does seem that way. But I don't know how they're controlling the Grimm," she answers. With that, we fight our way to the dance hall, where the majority of people at Beacon are, so naturally the majority of the Grimm are there too. While fighting, I notice that the red glow all Grimm have in their eyes seems duller than it should be. _Strange. They don't seem any weaker._ After punching an Ursa in the throat, I notice another weird thing. My fist went through _metal._ It doesn't take someone who pays attention in Grimm Studies to know Grimm don't have any metal on them. I look around, and every Grimm has some kind of collar on them, or two in the case of King Taijitus.

Apparently, Blake notices this too. "What happens if the collar should come off?" she asks me.

"I don't know, but you should try it. I would, but Ember Celica doesn't do precision," I answer. She nods, and cleaves through the collar of a nearby Beowolf without killing it. The glow in its eyes returns to full strength, before the beast goes crazy and attacks everything in sight. Blake stops it with a shot to its throat.

"Do you think the collars are keeping them under control?" I ask, and she nods. We continue fighting, me still stronger than usual because of my Semblance, but it's wearing off. When we reach the dance hall, I see Weiss coordinating a Dust attack, completely unaware of an Ursa behind her. Using my gauntlets to get over there faster, I punch it and fire Ember Celica at the same time. Blake joins me a second later, killing any Grimm in range. There's blood everywhere, and I don't even want to think about how many people were hurt or killed in the surprise attack. Luckily, I don't have to, as Ruby suddenly appears, dressed in her regular clothes. She probably changed and came back, because Weiss is still in the dress she was wearing earlier.

"Where the _hell_ have you two been?" my sister asks me.

"Vale. The White Fang attacked on Torchwick's orders," I tell her. "No time to go any further." Right as I finish speaking, a wall explodes and a Paladin enters.

"All right, girls, we probably won't make it out of this one, but I'm going to kill every single fucking one of them that I possibly can. Are you with me?" Ruby says.

I look at her, shocked to hear her swear, but then I nod and stare at the enemy, silently challenging them to come at me. Weiss and Blake also nod, and the four of us take up battle stances. Before anyone gets a chance to do anything, a missile is fired from the Paladin. It hits me, and my Aura absorbs the explosion. I'm sent flying, and realize how fortunate that is. _I don't have to worry about my Semblance wearing off now._ I charge the Paladin and punch it, causing it to undergo rapid unplanned disassembly. In other words, it shatters. I have no time to congratulate myself though, because my momentum carried me outside. I falter when I see another dozen Paladins accompanied by seven Deathstalkers and five King Taijitus. _Where the actual_ fuck _is Ozpin?! He should be protecting the school!_ I think, and decide the safest thing to do would be to go find him. I run back to the dance hall and tell my teammates we need to fall back.

"There's a couple of injured people here! We can't just leave them!" Ruby protests. I look around and see who she's referring to. I don't recognize them, but I scoop them up and throw them over my shoulders before running to the main building of the school. I bring them to the infirmary and drop them off. The nurse seems surprised to see me carrying two people on my shoulders and not be out of breath at all, but I ignore her.

"I'm going to find Ozpin," I declare. "Who's coming?"

Ruby and Blake say they'll follow me, while Weiss decides to stay and guard the infirmary. She kisses Ruby and whispers "good luck", before the three of us run to Ozpin's office. When we get there, the door is closed and locked, so I hammer on it.

"Professor! The damn school is under attack from the White Fang and a fucking _army_ of Grimm! What the hell could you be doing that's more important than helping fight them?!" I yell. Blake looks shocked to hear me talk to the Headmaster like that, but there's no answer from inside the office. I hammer on the door a few more times, before deciding "screw it" and kicking it down. I'm half expecting a very angry Ozpin to berate me, or have a bemused smile on his face. Neither of those things happen.

Looking around, I see that the office is empty, apart from the door that is now in the middle of the room. I don't get a chance to say anything about this to my team, however, because a stern voice suddenly calls out.

"Children! What are you doing in here?" I turn and see Goodwitch, who doesn't seem happy.

"We were looking for Professor Ozpin," Blake explains. "Yang decided to kick the door in because it was locked."

Before anyone says anything else, an explosion shakes the room. When I regain my balance, I turn and see Torchwick in an airship, smiling with his cane pointed at us, ready to fire.

"Sorry, ladies, the old man isn't here. I sent him on a wild goose chase to Vacuo, where he thinks he's gonna find an enemy too powerful for an ordinary Huntsman," he tells us. Seething, I prepare to finish what I started last week, but Goodwitch holds me back and fires a Dust attack at Roman's airship. The pilot manoeuvres the craft out of the way, before Roman heads back inside the ship, to be replaced by a shadowy figure with glowing eyes. This person looks familiar, but I can't place her. At least, I think it's a woman, because she appears to be wearing a dress, but it's hard to tell because she's basically just a silhouette. Ruby gasps in fear, and I figure she must know who this new enemy is.

Glynda narrows her eyes, before telling us to run. When the woman in the ship launches a huge firebolt that scorches most of Ozpin's office, we don't even hesitate. Ruby, Blake and I bolt down the stairs, figuring it will be much safer to fight an army of Grimm than the silhouette in the airship. After a while, we see Port and Oobleck annihilating Grimm with seemingly no effort. They catch sight of us, and tell us we need to push the enemy back before they enter the school.

"If we can reach the armory, there's Dust we can use to take down the Paladins," Blake suggests.

"Great plan, babe, but have you _seen_ how many Grimm are between here and there?" I ask her. She smiles, and says it's no problem if we send Ruby.

"How do you figure? I know she's fast, but there's too many of them," I say, confused.

"If _you're_ worried your sister will get hurt, nothing can stop you from ensuring she doesn't," Blake tells me, in a tone that says "duh".

I shrug. "Fair point. Go for it, Ruby."

My red-clad sister bolts towards the armory and I follow, punching Grimm left and right. I am not gonna let anything happen to her. She enters the armory, and I stay on guard outside while she collects the Dust. She comes out a couple of minutes later with at least twenty crystals. I raise an eyebrow at her.

"I didn't know how much we need," she tells me, and we sprint back to Blake, Port and Oobleck. The veteran Huntsmen see the Dust in Ruby's arms, and congratulate us on our "ingenuity".

"Dibs on blowing it up," I say, to which my girlfriend rolls her eyes. I switch to the long-range fire mode on Ember Celica and tell my sister to start throwing the crystals. Twelve throws, twelve perfectly aimed long-range blasts, twelve massive explosions. When the smoke clears, the Paladins are a dozen smoking wrecks of twisted metal.

"We're awesome," I tell Ruby, clapping her on the back. She nods and smiles, before pointing out that it was Blake's idea.

"Yeah, but I didn't actually have anything to do with the execution of it," the Faunus says modestly, before telling me to duck. I instantly do, and Blake shoots at something behind me. There's a howl of pain, and a thud as something hits the ground. I turn and see an Ursa clutching its throat as it lies on the ground, dying from the wound my incredible girlfriend gave it.

At this point, Team JNPR show up, joined by Sun Wukong and Neptune Vasilias. The six of them smile, before turning to face the remaining Grimm. Thanks to Port and Oobleck, their numbers have been decreased to just over a hundred. Easy. Sun pulls out Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang in staff form and starts swinging, while Nora hefts Magnhild and decides to smash. I'm surprised Weiss has never lectured that girl about "grace" or "form", given the way she wields that hammer. I seriously think she's insane. The other three members of JNPR also attack, while Neptune pulls out his gun and switches it to guandao form to join his leader.

"They can probably handle this, guys," Ruby tells us. "Let's go find Weiss."

"You go ahead," I answer. "I am _not_ missing a fight."

"I'll stay here too. I need to make sure this one doesn't get herself killed," Blake says. Ruby looks a little crestfallen, but goes off on her own to find her girlfriend while Blake and I get back into the thick of the action.

Within minutes, all the Grimm lie dead or dying, and Ruby and Weiss return hand in hand. I smile at them, before suggesting to Blake that we go somewhere private for a celebratory make-out session now that the school is safe. She gladly agrees, so we rush to Beacon Cliff. On the way, we see the airship that contains Torchwick and the shadow woman flying away, looking damaged but intact. _Next time, you bastard_ , I think. Next thing I know, we're at the cliff and Blake's lips are on mine in an instant. After a solid minute, I pull back and smile.

"What were you planning that day in the forest when we were interrupted by Jaune and Pyrrha?"

"Oh, that. We'll need a little more privacy," she says seductively, before pulling me to a dorm room that we know is uninhabited. I smile when I figure out what she's thinking, and prepare for a lot of fun.

**Cinder**

Surprisingly, Roman didn't screw this up. It still wasn't as successful as planned, despite the timing of the attack, but at least we know the devices work now. According to a news report, thirty students are dead, but no names are disclosed. I just hope the colourful girls Roman has so much trouble with are out of commission. Even if they aren't, no one will be able to stop me when I move to the final phase…


	10. Chapter 10

**Yang**

I wake up the next morning, and double check that the door is locked. We do _not_ need anyone happening to walk in on us now, especially considering Blake took her bow off last night. Thankfully, we did remember to lock it, so no worries. I turn and look at my sleeping girlfriend, and wonder how the hell I managed to get such perfection to settle for me. She's just indescribable, and I don't even care how cliché that sounds. Another thing I don't care about is the fact that Ruby and Weiss are probably wondering where we are. Speaking of Weiss, I'm gonna have a chat with her later about dating my sister.

As I think about this, Blake wakes up. Looking around the room, she blushes, probably remembering what we did last night. _For once, the dirty connotation you thought of actually applies, Yang._

"Morning, honey," Blake says, yawning.

"Good morning, beautiful," I reply with a smile. She blushes again, but smiles at the compliment. At that moment, I have a thought. "Are these walls soundproof?" I ask.

"I hope so. We'll also need air freshener," Blake answers.

We get dressed, and leave the room. Luckily, there's no one in the hallway, and we go back to our regular dorm to shower. When we're done with that, I look at the clock and find it's noon, and I realize I'm hungry. My girlfriend and I head to the cafeteria hand in hand, and get lunch before sitting down with our teammates and Team JNPR.

"Where did you two go last night?" Ruby asks when we sit down.

"I don't want to taint the innocence of your ears, sis," I reply with a smirk. Blake blushes, and Weiss looks at us as if to say "why am I not surprised?" Team JNPR look at us, not sure whether to take us seriously.

Ruby looks disappointed that I won't tell her. "I will use my authority as leader to make you tell me, you know," she says.

"Ruby, you _really_ don't want to know," Weiss tells her. "For once, I agree with Yang. It's better not to tell you."

"Fine," the red-clad girl grumbles.

"Anyway, did you all fare all right last night during the attack?" I ask. Everyone nods.

Suddenly, the loudspeaker comes on. "All students will convene in the amphitheatre in half an hour. No exceptions, except for those who cannot leave the infirmary," Goodwitch announces.

"She probably wants to talk about the attack," Ruby says. Shrugging, I finish eating along with everyone else and we head to the amphitheatre.

When we arrive, we see Goodwitch on the stage. I realize it's the first time I've seen her since she fought the shadowy woman, and I notice her hair looks singed, but otherwise she's okay.

"As you all know, last night was a tragedy. Our enemies caught us unprepared, and thirty students lost their lives. Several dozen more are in the infirmary, recovering. Professor Ozpin still has not returned, but he sent a message to tell me that he's on his way back. In the meantime, classes are suspended to allow time to grieve lost friends and teammates. Unfortunately, we do not have long. Roman Torchwick orchestrated the assault, and we now know he is working with another, much more powerful figure. Somehow, they are able to control Grimm, and they have the White Fang at their command. I have no idea what they might be planning, but last night's attack was just the pre-show. The real performance will start soon, and we need to be prepared. It is our duty as Huntsmen and Huntresses to protect the world from the forces which seek to do it harm, and we _will_ uphold that duty to the letter. You are dismissed."

Everyone files out, and I remember that I need to talk to Weiss.

"Weiss, a word, please?" I ask her.

"Be quick."

I gesture at the rest of our group to go away before starting. "First off, I don't have a problem with you dating my sister, so I'm not gonna tell you you're not allowed to. However, I do have some rules concerning it," I tell her.

"And they are?" she asks, looking annoyed.

"I'm just gonna preface this by saying I don't expect you to break any of them, so don't get the wrong idea. I'm telling you them anyway. One: you do not do anything she's uncomfortable with. If you do, I'll punch your lights out. She's never dated anyone before, so take it slow with her. Two: you hurt her, physically or emotionally, and I will end you. Understand?"

"Yes, Yang. I care deeply about Ruby. She's just about the only thing we're on equal footing about, so you don't have to worry about me doing anything that would upset her," the heiress replies, before turning and leaving, muttering something about "the audacity" under her breath.

With that sorted, I start looking for Blake. I start with the library, and unsurprisingly, she's there, reading a book. She looks up when she hears me walk over, then blushes and tries to hide her book.

"Watcha reading, Blakey?" I ask.

"N-nothing," she stammers. "Isn't this a really nice room?"

"Don't change the subject. For once, I actually take an interest in your books and you want to talk about something else?" I tease, figuring that her book is probably…Not from the library.

"Fine. Here," she says, handing it to me. It's called _Ninjas of Love,_ and I flip through the pages eagerly. My guess turns out to be correct.

"My, my, Blake. I did not know you read this kind of thing. Mind you, it does explain some of what you did to me last night," I tell her with a smirk.

" _Yang! Not so loud!_ " she says, mortified. She's blushing furiously, and I take pity on her.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop. But seriously, since when were you into this kind of literature?"

"Always. I just don't let you guys see," she answers in a small voice.

"Ah. Well, I'm not gonna tell anyone. Keep reading it if you want to," I tell Blake with a wink. She rolls her eyes, and I sit down next to her before pulling her in for a passionate kiss. She pulls back to breathe, then climbs into my lap to continue. She gently nibbles on my lower lip, before slipping her tongue into my mouth. _How is she so good at this?_ I think. Suddenly, she pulls back and buries her face in the crook of my neck, and I feel her leaving gentle kisses. She then switches to the other side and starts sucking. Apparently, I'm getting a hickey. I've never had one before, and it doesn't hurt as much as I thought it would. After about thirty seconds, Blake lifts her head and looks me in the eyes.

"I hope you don't mind. I got a bit carried away," she tells me in a low voice.

"Of course not. It was awesome, actually," I reply with a smile. "You're a really good kisser." I kiss her again and get lost in the moment, until someone clears their throat. I look over Blake's shoulder and see the librarian looking less than pleased.

"This is a place for reading, not PDAs," he tells us sternly. Blushing, Blake and I apologise before grabbing Blake's book and going back to our dorm where we won't be interrupted.

That's the plan, anyway.

**Ruby**

Weiss and I lie on her bed holding hands, not really doing anything else. She won't tell me what Yang wanted earlier. All I can get out of her is "your sister is impertinent", whatever that means. They seem to be on good terms now though, so it's all good. I decide to surprise Weiss by getting on top of her and kissing her unexpectedly. I can tell she's unprepared, but she gets into it. I enjoy this kiss much more than the one at the dance last night, probably because I'm not so nervous, and I'm not wearing stupid lady-stilts. Those things can seriously ruin an evening. It was so worth it though.

I get so caught up in kissing Weiss, and thinking about how much I hate high heels, that I forget about breathing. I pull back suddenly and take a deep breath.

"You're overeager, you dunce," my girlfriend tells me with a smile.

"Hey, I'm new to this!"

"I know, I meant no offence," she says, pulling me back down for another kiss. I think I'm just as addicted to Weiss' lips as I am to cookies, and that's bad because I can't have both at the same time. Probably. This time, I remember to breathe after a while, then I just stare into Weiss' eyes. I wish I could say something really romantic about getting lost in their beauty or something like that, but I'm not good with romance.

Before either of us does anything else, we hear the door open behind us.

**Cardin**

I'm hanging out in the training room with Dove, Sky and Russel, when two of the visitors saunter over to us, looking like they think they own the place. One of them, a guy with slicked-back silvery-grey hair, says he has a proposition for us.

"What do you have in mind?" I ask him.

"It's simple. You help us with our plan, we help you get revenge on Blondie, and Arc, and everyone else who's pissed you off at this school. We can't give you the details unless you agree to join us, but take this as incentive…" As he finishes his sentence, he holds out several Lien cards, totaling several thousand.

"What do you need us to do?" I ask, taking the money.


	11. Chapter 11

**Yang**

We arrive at our dorm eagerly anticipating the continuation of our escapades. _Big words. Blake would be so proud._ However, opening the door reveals that we won't be able to. I see Ruby straddling Weiss, staring into the heiress' eyes. When they hear the door open, they both turn the colour of Ruby's cloak.

"Dammit!" I curse.

"As you were, you two," Blake tells them, then drags me away from the room.

"Where can we go now?" I ask, disappointed.

"There's always the roof," my girlfriend answers. I smile, and start pulling her towards the stairs.

Thankfully, the roof's empty when we arrive, so we get right down to business. _Unfortunately, not_ that _kind of business._ Shut up, brain! I'm trying to make out here! _Hey, you're the one who keeps having these thoughts with double meanings._ At this point, I tune out the annoying voice in my mind, and focus on what's going on with my lips. _Whi-?_ Shut. Up. I will kill you with alcohol if you're not careful.

Blake suddenly pulls back and pushes me to the floor, like that time in the Emerald Forest. This time, when she climbs on top of me, there are no interruptions, and her lips are back on mine in an instant. For once, the annoying voice doesn't pop up to make a remark about that statement. I feel Blake's tongue trying to make its way into my mouth, so I allow her access before making a half-hearted attempt to win dominance of the kiss. Truthfully, though, she's already on top of me, so it's not much of a battle. For once, I have no problem losing at something and I let Blake have this one. She then moves down a little, and goes for a sensitive spot just above my collarbone. Leaving several delicate kisses there, she drives me wild with pleasure, before moving back up to my lips. I find myself glad that she reads her "romance" novels so much, because there's no way she'd know to do all this otherwise.

She suddenly sits up and smiles at me. "Worth the wait, honey?" she asks.

"Oh, hell yes it was," I reply with a huge grin on my face.

"I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"Babe, 'enjoyed it' is an understatement and a half," I tell her. "I don't even think I can return the favour."

"See, you complain about how much I read, but this is the result. Would you prefer if it didn't happen?" she asks.

"Of course I wouldn't prefer that. Now that I've felt the benefits of your reading, I'm not gonna complain."

"Good. And don't worry about returning the favour. I'm sure you'll get to it at some point," she tells me. We then decide we should be productive, so we swing by the dorm and grab our weapons, then head to the Emerald Forest to kill things.

Strangely, after half an hour of hunting, we haven't found any Grimm. "Blake, I'm bored now. Let's go annoy people," I suggest.

"Sure. Could be fun, actually," she replies, to my great surprise. "One condition: anyone is grieving, we leave them alone. Deal?"

"Of course."

We go back to the school to find someone to annoy. Happily, we immediately run into Jaune.

"Hey, Jaune! How's Pyrrha?" I ask in an overly-excited high-pitched voice.

"She-she's fine," he replies, blushing slightly.

"Did you enjoy the dance?" Blake asks, also higher-pitched than usual.

"Yeah, it was fine."

"What about when you were outside?" I ask him. "What were you and Pyrrha up to?"

"N-nothing! Just getting some air," he answers, far too quickly. His blush deepens.

"Suuuuuuure you were," I tease.

"What flavor was Pyrrha's lip balm, Jauney-boy?" Blake chimes in.

Jaune turns a shade of red that he could only hide in Pyrrha's hair. "How should I know?"

"Do you not have tastebuds? It's pretty obvious you and her were making out," I tease.

"We were not!" he exclaims. "There was no tongue," he adds in a small voice.

"What was that? I didn't hear," Blake says. I know full well that she did, because I heard it just fine and I don't have cat ears.

"I said there was no tongue."

"Sooo, you and her are a thing now? Congrats, Vomit Boy! You grew a brain!" I tell him, clapping him a little too hard on the back. He falls over, and I practically _die_ of laughter.

"There's just a couple more things he needs to grow now," Blake jokes, before dragging me away. I say "dragging" because I'm still rolling around in hysterics, both at Jaune's embarrassment and the fact that he fell over.

"That actually _was_ fun. I can see why you do it," Blake tells me after I've recovered.

"Yup. Wait, I have an idea. Let's get some pancakes and cookies, put them on the same plate and leave them somewhere, then lure Ruby and Nora to them," I suggest.

"Yang Xiao Long, you are a genius. Let's do it."

Two hours later, we have fresh cookies and fresh pancakes. We know from Ren that Nora is in Team JNPR's dorm, and I know Ruby hasn't left ours because she's there with Weiss. We decide the best place to put the plate is right between Teams RWBY and JNPR's dorms, so we put it into position, and prepare for Step Two.

I knock on our door, while Blake knocks on JNPR's, and we run to the end of the hallway to watch the action without being seen. We're giggling like little girls when both doors are opened and a very confused girl steps out from each one.

"FREE PANCAKES!" "FREE COOKIES!"

Two voices call out together, then a blur of colour descends on the middle of the hall. We hear the telltale sounds of a scuffle, which get progressively louder until more doors are opened and heads pop out to see what all the noise is. By now, Blake and I are cracking up as Ruby and Nora fight for the plate.

Eventually, Weiss walks out of our room, Myrtenaster in hand. "You two! Behave like civilized people!" she demands, and Ruby and Nora freeze. Not literally, but I don't think Weiss is too far off doing that to them, even if she is dating one of them. Blake and I decide it would be best to leave now, before Weiss tries to find out who pulled this prank. If we're not even in the area, we'll have plausible deniability. Hopefully.

After escaping, Blake suggests we stop being annoying, because people might suspect us of pulling the prank in the hallway. I agree, and we go to the training room to spar.

"Yang, I think you have the advantage here. I don't want to hurt you," the raven-haired beauty tells me.

"Yeah, that's definitely why I have the advantage," I answer her, smiling confidently. "It's not because of my skill or anything."

Instead of answering, Blake unsheathes Gambol Shroud and attacks. I activate Ember Celica and parry her strike with my left gauntlet, then try to counter with a right hook. She backflips to dodge, then jumps off a shadow clone to get back within range of her sword. This move catches me off guard and I barely manage to block Blake's next attack. I feign a jab at her face, which she surprisingly falls for, then aim a spinning kick at her stomach. She manages to deflect it with the flat side of her blade, so as not to cut my leg off, which knocks me off-balance. I recover just in time to duck under a swing from Gambol Shroud.

We keep this up for half an hour, neither of us landing a hit on the other, and we agree to call it a draw.

"I would have beaten you," I say. "It's those shadow clones, they're the only thing that saved you."

"I wasn't going all out. Like I said, I didn't want to hurt you," Blake answers, keeping up the banter.

"Suuure. Anyway, let's go shower. I'm sweating like you wouldn't believe."

She smiles and takes my hand, and we head to the showers. Hopefully there's no one else in there…

**Cinder**

Emerald and Mercury managed to secure some support inside Beacon, so now I can have them leave and not have to worry about them being caught. Unfortunately, they also reported that Team RWBY are all alive and well, so they may be a thorn in my side, at least until the main event. At that point, the only difference they'll make is the number of casualties on my side. They will _all_ burn…


	12. Chapter 12

**Yang**

After Blake and I shower, Goodwitch announces over the loudspeaker that she needs to see Team RWBY immediately. We meet up with our teammates outside her office then knock on the door.

"Come in," Goodwitch tells us. We enter, and see the Huntress looking really tired. There are bags under her eyes and her hair is a mess. "Sit," she says, motioning to the chairs in front of her desk.

"You're probably wondering why you're here," Glynda starts. "Professor Ozpin sent me a message, saying he had information on Torchwick's whereabouts, and specifically requesting that I send you four to pursue this lead. He said he'd go himself, but he has to get back here."

"Good. I can get payback," I growl.

"Another thing, Ms. Xiao Long. If Torchwick is there, he is to be brought back _alive,_ along with any information you can find about his plans."

"That's fine. It means I can make him beg for mercy," I reply.

"As long as you're not bringing back a corpse, or someone who's suffered too much head trauma to form coherent sentences, you are permitted to go to any means necessary," Goodwitch says. "Professor Ozpin's lead points to a disused supply tunnel in the north of the city. Be careful; we don't know what you'll find."

"Yes, ma'am," Weiss answers, before getting up to leave. We all follow her to our dorm room where she and Ruby grab their weapons. Blake and I already have ours from our sparring earlier, so we head out to find Torchwick.

Fifteen minutes later, we're in the city, heading north. Somehow Weiss knows exactly where this tunnel is, so we're following her until we reach a decrepit old building that is clearly abandoned. She checks her scroll, then tells us there's an access point to the tunnel in the building. _She probably has a map on her scroll. That would explain a lot._ Weiss tries the door, and finds it to be locked.

"I got this," I tell everyone, then punch straight through it. Luckily, it's made of wood so it doesn't hurt. Feeling around the inside of the door, I find the latch and undo it, then pull my hand back and open the door.

"Could you be any more uncivilized?" Weiss asks me. I ignore her, and make my way inside.

It's really dark, so Blake takes the lead because she has night vision. She spots a light switch and flicks it, but nothing happens. Instead, she tells us to be careful and not trip. Following her down a hallway, we stop when she tells us there's a staircase leading down.

"Wait here. There's a door at the bottom; there may be light on the other side," Blake says, before heading down and opening said door. Thankfully, she was right and light spills out, illuminating the staircase enough for people without night vision to descend safely. At the bottom, I find that the door leads to a long hallway that splits at the end. Suddenly, I see Blake's bow twitch, and figure she must be picking up sounds too faint for her human ears. "Someone's coming," she whispers, and we all prepare to fight.

Two people come round the corner at the end of the hall, and stop when they see us. They're both wearing Grimm masks and White Fang uniforms, and try to run before we do anything. Unfortunately, Weiss is too quick, and freezes them in place with an ice attack.

"I call handling the interrogation," I say as we walk towards the White Fang soldiers. "There's two ways we can do this. One, you tell me what I want to know and I knock you out with minimal pain. Two, I beat the information out of you," I tell them with a smile on my face.

"Wh-what do you want us to tell you?" one of them asks, sounding scared. The other is struggling to break free of the ice.

"Where's Torchwick?"

"No way, he'd kill me if I told you," he replies. I raise my fist threateningly, and he changes his mind. "Turn right at the end of this hall, then keep going straight. Be quick though, he said he's not staying long."

"Thank you," I say, before knocking out both soldiers with a punch to each of their heads. I sprint the way I had been told and come to a metal door. A long-range blast from Ember Celica knocks it off its hinges, then I burst through the hole it had occupied and see something that makes me stop dead.

I'm in a large tunnel, maybe a hundred feet across and fifty feet wide. It's teeming with White Fang soldiers all doing various things. They look like they're preparing for a war, with lots of crates that I assume are full of stolen Dust. There are also dozens of cages, each containing Grimm of all kinds imaginable. They all have the collars we saw during the attack on Beacon, so I figure the White Fang, or more specifically Torchwick and his employer, are controlling the Grimm to use them for some illicit purpose. Another thing that worries me are the fifty Atlesian Paladins being stocked with ammunition. Luckily, the general racket of all this activity drowned out the blast from my gauntlets, so no one knows I'm here yet.

Unfortunately, this doesn't last long, because the metal door lands in the middle of the tunnel with a resounding _clang_ , causing White Fang members around it to look around in confusion.

"Mr. Torchwick! The blonde girl is here!" one of them yells when he spots me. I mentally kick myself for not getting out of sight, and briefly wonder why my teammates haven't arrived yet. Before I can process anything else, I see four dozen assault rifles pointed at me. _Well, shit,_ I think, before my combat instincts kick in and I roll to the side, where there's a conveniently placed box for me to take cover behind.

I start planning my next move, then hear the distinctive crack of high-caliber sniper fire. I turn and face where I'd been standing before and see Ruby, Crescent Rose at the ready.

"Weiss! Blake! Yang! Go, go, go! I'll cover you!" she yells, and I figure she means go towards the enemy and attack, and attack I do. I charge the White Fang and start punching anyone in range. The first few guys don't even register what's happening before they go down, and the next few blink in surprise. I prepare to attack them, but then I see a black blur fly past and hear metal clanging. Several more soldiers drop, bleeding in various places and I see Blake, both swords out, her face a stony mask. Suddenly, she becomes a black whirlwind, swords moving too fast for me to track, so I join her in taking down the enemy. Weiss stays back, casting various glyphs to support us.

"I'm going after Torchwick!" I hear Ruby yell, and I figure she must have seen him trying to retreat. Ninety seconds later, most of the soldiers are dead or unconscious, but most of the Paladins are activating.

I look at Blake. "Time to go?" I ask.

"Time to go. WEISS, WE'RE LEAVING!" she yells the last part.

We run down the tunnel, towards the end that seems to lead outside. You could say we're following the light at the end of the tunnel. Behind us, the Paladins start shooting and I hear one of the few remaining foot soldiers yell "open the cages!". That's not good.

We burst out of the tunnel and see Ruby, who has managed to catch up to Torchwick and shoot him in the leg. The criminal's cane is nowhere to be seen, so I figure Ruby must have thrown it away from its owner. Knowing the Paladins and an army of Grimm are still chasing us, I throw Torchwick over my shoulder and keep running.

"You lose," the scum I'm carrying whispers in my ear. "This was all planned."

"Shut the fuck up," I growl back, but secretly I'm a little worried. What was planned? Us finding the hideout? Capturing Torchwick?

I don't have long to think about it, because a pack of Beowolves is suddenly in our path.

"Where the hell did they come from?" Ruby asks. Instead of answering, we kill the Grimm easily. Well, "we" don't. Ruby, Weiss and Blake do, because I'm carrying Torchwick. While they do that, I look around and see smoke rising from quite a lot of places around the city.

"What the actual _fuck_ is happening?" I spit at Torchwick, throwing him to the ground.

He laughs in response, so I punch him, breaking his nose. "Fine, I'll tell you. Ozzy isn't as smart as you think. My employer let him know where I was, so that we could get you four out of the school. Meanwhile, the traitors at Beacon knock out the power and take the school out of the loop, so they have no idea what's happening down here. As for what that is, exactly what you Huntsmen and Huntresses are supposed to prevent," he tells me smugly. "And let's not forget the Dust you guys leave lying around in the armory."

"What does that have to do wi- Oh," I say, realizing what he meant. As I do, I hear a colossal explosion to the south, and I turn to see Beacon, heavily damaged by the Dust explosion. Before we get a chance to do anything else, two Deathstalkers appear, ready to kill us.

"These beasts are tame, ladies," Torchwick tells us. "They'll only attack if I give the word. Lay down your weapons and leave, and I'll let you all live."

"I don't think so," I reply, stomping on his good leg. I feel the femur break under my foot, and I know he won't be going anywhere. My teammates and I prepare to fight the two large Grimm when I hear a familiar voice.

"No one threatens my nieces," my uncle Qrow declares from behind me. I assume he unfolds the scythe Crescent Rose is modeled after, because there's a series of mechanical clicks. "You four take the one on the right. I got the other one."

Ruby turns and sees our uncle. Her face lights up, before she turns back to face our opponent. The four of us target the Deathstalker Qrow told us to kill, and Weiss freezes its pincers shut with an ice blast. It howls in range, and Ruby shoots into its mouth, which it closes in a hurry. Blake jumps up and grabs its stinger, then starts firing Gambol Shroud's pistol. It roars in pain and shakes her off, and she lands gracefully.

"I guess cats really _do_ always land on their feet," I call out, winking at my girlfriend.

"Not now, Yang," she replies, smiling. Before I can say anything else, Qrow yells that it's ridiculous that he can take down a Deathstalker on his own faster than the four of us can take one down together. I roll my eyes and slide underneath the beast, firing both gauntlets at its underbelly. The force lifts it up, and I get to my feet and run out of the way before it crushes me. It twitches once, then lies still.

"Took you long enough," Qrow banters, before pulling Ruby and I in for a hug. "Ozpin was suspicious, so he sent me to follow you in case you needed help."

Weiss and Blake stare at him suspiciously. "I'm Qrow, Ruby and Yang's uncle," he tells them. "We need reinforcements. There are Grimm and Paladins everywhere." When he finishes speaking, he pulls out his scroll and types a message. I can't see who to.

"Now what?" Ruby asks.

"We kill Grimm and destroy mechs," Qrow answers. "Yang, I suggest you let me hit you to activate your Semblance."

I nod, and prepare for the impact. Qrow swings his scythe and hits me with the flat part of the blade, sending me flying. I get to my feet and crack my knuckles, anticipating what comes next. My team, Qrow and I make our way to the city centre, where we see a dozen Deathstalkers, twenty King Taijitus and a few Paladins massacring civilians. _I'm gonna enjoy this,_ I think, charging the nearest Paladin.

**Cinder**

Ozpin has played right into my hands. This attack has gone exactly as planned so far, and the Hunters won't be able to stop it. I doubt I'll even have to participate…


	13. Chapter 13

**Yang**

I charge the enemy forces, barely giving them time to react before punching everything in range. My teammates and uncle opt for a more conservative approach. _Boring people,_ I think. Ruby and Qrow are a deadly unit with their scythes, and Grimm drop like flies at their hands. Or blades, really. And bullets, in Ruby's case. Meanwhile, Weiss is launching a dozen Dust attacks a second, while Blake is jumping off so many shadow clones in such quick succession that I can't even track the real one.

I decide a nearby Paladin would be more useful to everyone as scrap metal, so I run at it, using Ember Celica to propel me faster. The pilot must have good reflexes, because he brought the mech's fist up to hit me. Unfortunately for him, I'm faster, and my Semblance is still active. I take a swing at the metal fist just before it hits me, and it shatters. The impact stops me, and I have a staredown with a giant suit of armour, because I'm just that awesome. Before either of us make a move, I catch movement in the corner of my eye. I turn just in time to see an Ursa's claw swinging at my face, so I flip backwards onto my hands then do another backflip to get back on my feet. Just before I counterattack, I spot a few strands of my hair falling to the ground. Touching my hair while my Semblance is active is never a good idea for anyone, because the rage will only contribute to my already increased badassery.

I punch the Ursa as hard as I can and fire Ember Celica as my fist hits its chest. My fist goes straight through the beast, for reasons related to physics that I neither understand nor care about. It looks down in surprise as I pull my arm back, then falls to the ground, lifeless. Obviously. It has a gaping hole in its chest.

I turn back to the Paladin to finish what I started. It launches a few missiles, which I shoot out of the air with Ember Celica's long-range mode, then I charge at it again. I jump and punch the cabin, putting a hole in the armour plating. I see the pilot's fearful face, before forcing the hole I made wider so I could pull him out. When he's out, I climb in and press buttons until the computer tells me "friendly" forces are targeted. _Sounds good_ , I think, so I press a big red button in the centre of the console.

"Missiles away," a cool female voice tells me. I jump out of the Paladin in time to see several others being blown up by the missiles I fired, along with a Deathstalker and an Alpha Ursa.

"Nice one, sis!" Ruby yells at me. I give her a thumbs up, before getting back into the fray.

A couple of minutes later, Teams JNPR and CFVY show up, which is a good thing because my Semblance is starting to wear off and we're all getting tired.

"We'll take it from here!" Jaune tells us, so Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Qrow and I head to a nearby intact building to recover.

"You okay, babe?" I ask Blake. She nods, so I pull her in for a quick kiss. When I pull back, I see Qrow staring at us in surprise. "Oh yeah, Blake's my girlfriend," I tell him.

"And you haven't gone crazy yet?" he asks Blake jokingly. She shakes her head, smiling. Five minutes later, Pyrrha pokes her head in and tells us it's all clear outside, but there are still battles happening all over the city.

"We need to find the person behind this. He or she will be the one controlling the Grimm, and probably giving the orders to the White Fang," Ruby says.

"Ozpin and I, along with a few others, have been attempting to track the actions of a mysterious figure, codenamed 'Queen'. There's a good chance she has something to do with it," Qrow tells us. "We don't have much to go on, but we know she's in Vale, pulling all the strings."

"Vale's a big place. Even if we split up, it'll take forever to search. We need CFVY and JNPR to help," Blake says. With that, the five of us go outside to tell the other two teams what the plan is. We split into groups of two, except for Qrow, who goes alone.

Half an hour later, Blake and I have found no one, but we have killed dozens of Grimm and blown up a Paladin. We're about to give up when we see a familiar figure.

"I think you're looking for me," the visitor who once kidnapped Blake told us.

"I never did get revenge on you, bitch. Blake, contact the others, tell them where we are," I say, while preparing myself for a fight. "You gonna face me, or run away again?" I ask the woman.

She smiles, before throwing a fireball at me. I roll to the side and charge, intent on disfiguring this woman. Without warning, she conjures a sword from midair and blocks my punch. Blake must have finished alerting the others, because she shoots at my opponent. She blocks the bullet with her bare hand, shocking my girlfriend and I. While we're distracted, she launches another fireball, which I blast out of the air with a blast from Ember Celica. Blake and I attack together, but this woman is incredibly skilled. She manages to counter every single one of our attacks, and I know we'd both be dead if we were fighting her individually instead of both at once.

Luckily, Ruby and Weiss get to us before long, and my sister shoots the woman. She blocks the bullet with her hand, and I use the temporary opening to punch her in the ribs. She grunts in surprise, and I grab her arm and twist, breaking it. She screams in pain, before blasting us all back with some weird energy. We get up and surround her, looking at each other. _She can't watch four people at once,_ I think. My teammates realize this, too. Ruby and Blake, who are on either side of her, shoot together while Weiss stabs Myrtenaster into the ground. Ice snakes towards our opponent, who now has a split second to decide which two attacks to block. She opts to deflect the bullets, then jumps over the ice, effectively dodging all three. How she managed that with a broken arm is beyond me. I guess she forgot that I'm behind her, because she doesn't react to a long-range blast from Ember Celica that hits her, launching her into a building. I follow her through the hole she made and pounce on her before she can get up, then start punching her in the face repeatedly. Blood is spraying everywhere as I break her nose and knock out several teeth.

"Yang, that's enough!" Blake yells from behind me. Breathing heavily, I stand up and look at my human punching bag. She's clearly unconscious, and her face is covered in her own blood.

"How-how did you…?" asks Qrow, who has just arrived. "Ozpin always says she's too powerful for anyone but the best Huntsmen and Huntresses in the world to face."

"Best Huntresses, eh? Uncle, dear, you're looking at them," I reply, a cocky smile on my face. "If it makes you feel any better, it was difficult. Really hard."

He rolls his eyes at the banter, before announcing that we need to get the woman to Ozpin and Glynda, who can apparently restrain her properly. On the way back to Beacon, we see police, as well as Atlesian and Mistralian armed forces fighting off the last of the Grimm and the White Fang. It looks like the good guys are winning, and I'm exhausted anyway, so I decide not to help.

When we get back to Beacon, I see the extent of the damage from the armory explosion. The dorm building is half gone, and the entire courtyard is cracked. I shudder at the thought of how many students were in their dorms at the time, and make a mental note to find the traitors Roman mentioned, and murder them.

Qrow, my teammates and I arrive at Ozpin's office, the woman in tow. We'd been hitting her again every time she came round on the way here. We all enter the office and see Ozpin standing there, looking proud of us, and Glynda, looking as emotionless as ever. I swear, that woman has two expressions: expressionless, and pissed. When she sees our captive, she immediately casts a glyph that seems to drain her of all her energy.

"That will inhibit her from using her Semblance, or any Dust attacks," Ozpin explained. "It is a very advanced technique, not intended for combat."

The woman is suspended in the air by the purple glyph, which forms the most intricate pattern I've ever seen a glyph have. When Goodwitch catches her breath, she starts talking.

"While I'm undoubtedly very impressed at your achievement, I'm curious. How on Remnant did you manage it?"

"Short version: we're all badasses," I answer.

"I didn't even have to intervene," Qrow says. "They were already done when I arrived."

"Congratulations," Ozpin tells us. "Get some rest; you've earned it. We'll take it from here."

We leave the office and head back to our dorm. Luckily, our room is on the undamaged side of the building, and we immediately go to bed. All four of us fall asleep on top of our respective bed sheets, in our regular clothes. I dream of a long, happy life with Blake, during which there is world peace and Huntresses aren't even required. I wish this could happen, but when do things ever work out that well for Team RWBY?

**Cinder**

I wake up with pain on every inch of my body. I look around and see that I'm in an unfamiliar room, rather like a prison cell. I'm also aware of a purple glyph, with a pattern I didn't even know existed. I've never seen anything like it, but instead of dwelling on it, I try to conjure a fireball to escape. Nothing happens. I'm also unable to summon weapons, so I figure the glyph has something to do with it. _No matter. Emerald and Mercury left the kingdom before the attack. There's no way they've been captured. They'll be here soon enough_ …


End file.
